Corrected: Canada may brand bisphenol A dangerous - report

Correction: In the ICIS news story headlined “Canada may brand bisphenol A dangerous – report” dated 15 April 2008, please read in the fifth paragraph …American Chemistry Council … instead of … American Chemistry Society…. Please read in the eighth paragraph … Babies R Us … instead of Kids R Us…. A corrected story follows.

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--The Canadian government is expected to officially classify bisphenol-A (BPA) as a dangerous substance this week, according to an article in the Canadian press on Tuesday.

Such a move by the federal health agency Health Canada would make it the world’s first regulatory body to define the chemical as dangerous and open the door for the country to regulate its use, according to the article.

The agency is expected to make the announcement as early as tomorrow, according to a report in the Toronto Globe and Mail.

Health Canada officials did not immediately return requests for comment.

BPA is commonly used in polycarbonate (PC) production. Some health studies have shown that it mimics estrogen and could lead to diabetes and cancer if ingested in large enough qualities. PC food and drink containers have been shown to leach out BPA when they are heated in the dishwasher or exposed to acidic substances.  

Chemical industry insiders, including the American Chemistry Council, have disputed the studies’ validity, however, pointing to other studies showing the average person does not ingest enough BPA to make it a health threat.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently among one of the world’s health agencies that have declared BPA to be safe. But a US government committee is probing whether the agency picked information from chemical-industry funded studies before reaching that conclusion. The committee hinted that it might require the FDA to review its evaluation process. 

The retail market has already spoken, however, with stores cutting back on food and beverage containers containing BPA. Sports equipment businesses have begun stocking more BPA-free refillable drinking bottles, while stores like Babies R Us have reported much higher sales of glass baby bottles in 2007 than in years past.

For more information on BPA and PC, visit ICIS Chemical Intelligence

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