German agency urges industry to use alternatives to BPA

09 June 2010 17:28  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--The president of Germany’s federal environmental protection agency on Wednesday urged producers, importers and users of bisphenol A (BPA) to switch to alternatives.

”There is still a lack of data, but what is already known about bisphenol A should be sufficient to take decisions on the application of the precautionary principle and limit the use of special products containing BPA,” said Jochen Flasbarth, head of the country’s Umweltbundesamt (UBA).

While EU regulators have still considered BPA as harmless for consumers, Flasbarth pointed to a large number of studies that showed a number of undesirable health side effects from the chemical. 

Additionally, some countries - including Canada, France and Denmark - had already acted to impose precautionary bans on BPA in baby bottles and other products for children, he said.

Importantly, the EU’s Reach regulation put responsibility for risks from chemicals on the companies producing or using them, Flasbarth said. The onus was on the industry to evaluate and minimise potential BPA risks, he said.

The UBA, for its part, was waiting for the chemical industry’s BPA registration dossier under Reach, due by 30 November. The agency would then evaluate the dossier and decide on necessary measures to protect people and the environment, Flasbarth said.

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By: Stefan Baumgarten
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