FDA BPA Packaging Health Ban Verdict Due March

A potential consumer health risk could be eliminated if the US Food and Drug Administration moves ahead with banning a widely used packaging chemical.

On 8 December, the US FDA agreed with NRDC - the National Resources Defense Council - that it's got until 31 March 2012 to deliver its final verdict on the ongoing use of BPA in food container linings and plastics.

It was over three years ago that the council first approached the FDA, seeking a ban on the chemical in connection with a mounting collection of studies linking it to impaired human health. This latest agreement, established through a court settlement, follows the administration's failure to act previously on the matter when requested.

BPA Packaging

BPA - the abbreviated form of bisphenol A - has been used in consumer products for more than 40 years. BPA's packaging applications are many and varied - from the lining inside food cans to the material used to coat supermarket receipts.

Studies have associated the chemical with a range of conditions such as hyperactivity, obesity, diabetes and even cancer and there's already some restrictions on its use outside the United States. Canada, for example, won't allow it in baby bottles at all.

FDA BPA Health Ban

The US government has long held the view that, so long as the doses are kept low, BPA exposure is a safe risk. It's since updated its position, however, conceding that science has now shown it an alternative stance. Any upcoming FDA BPA health ban would represent the administration's final word on the matter.

Just one day ago, the American Chemical Society released a study on the BPA content in till receipts. The chemical is present in all but six per cent of them, it said, and since it survives the recycling process, it can make its way into many other products, like toilet paper and paper napkins, posing a potential risk to human health.

In all, more than eight billion pounds of the chemical are produced around the world each year.

Alongside its pledge to decide on banning BPA by the end of next March, the US FDA has also confirmed it will cooperate with industry on the development of substitutes that could take its place in consumer products.