Bisphenol A

A controversial, estrogen-like chemical in plastic could be harming the development of children's brains and reproductive organs, a federal health agency concluded in a report released Tuesday. The National Toxicology Program, part of the National Institutes of Health, concluded that there was "some concern" that fetuses, babies and children were in danger because bisphenol A, or BPA, harmed animals at low levels found in nearly all human bodies.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administrationannounced Friday that it will not ban the use of bisphenol A, also known as BPA, in food packaging. [For the record: In an earlier version of this post, the Natural Resources Defense Council was misidentified as the National Resources Defense Council. ] In a 12-page letter,David H. Dorsey, FDA acting associate commissioner for policy and planning, wrote that the the Natural Resources Defense Council, which had petitioned the agency to change its regulations on use of the chemical, had not provided sufficient scientific evidence to change the current regulations.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has begun a review of ties between a federal health center that evaluates the risks of chemicals to reproductive health and a consulting firm funded by companies that produce chemicals linked to reproductive disorders. The investigation follows a Times report on Sunday that Sciences International, an Alexandria, Va.

Bisphenol A, the chemical used to make some hard-plastic products, has been linked in several studies with health problems in babies and children. A study published Monday again suggests a strong reaction from gestational exposure to the substance. Researchers at Harvard looked at the urine samples of 244 pregnant women in the Cincinnati area. The urine was tested again at birth for the presence of BPA. The children born to these women were also tested for BPA and underwent behavioral evaluations.

Evidence is mounting that a chemical in plastic that is one of the world's most widely used industrial compounds may be risky in the small amounts that seep from bottles and food packaging, according to a report to be published this week in a scientific journal. The authors of the report, who reviewed more than 100 studies, urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to re-evaluate the risks of bisphenol A and consider restricting its use.

Congress on Wednesday waded into an escalating scientific dispute over a controversial ingredient in plastic products that some think may harm the development of children's brains and interfere with human reproduction. Members of a Senate consumer affairs subcommittee faulted federal agencies for reacting too slowly to concerns that children are exposed to bisphenol A, or BPA, through leaching from such items as water bottles, baby bottles and the linings of food and baby formula cans.

Linking prostate cancer to a widespread industrial compound, scientists have found that exposure to a chemical that leaks from plastic causes genetic changes in animals' developing prostate glands that are precursors of the most common form of cancer in males. The chemical, bisphenol A, or BPA, is used in the manufacture of hard, polycarbonate plastic for baby bottles, microwave cookware and other consumer goods, and it has been detected in nearly every human body tested.

A state panel will not require warning labels on metal cans, plastic bottles and other products that contain bisphenol A, despite more than 200 studies that have linked the chemical to cancer and reproductive problems. Wednesday's unanimous decision may speak to the limitations of the state Environmental Protection Agency's Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee. Dorothy Burk, chairwoman of the committee, acknowledged its reach is limited.

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that the safety of a controversial chemical found in some baby bottles, children's drinking cups and other food containers merited further study but did not warrant immediate restrictions on its use. The FDA, the Department of Health and Human Services and other health agencies have committed $30 million to studying the health effects of bisphenol A, or BPA, and expect results in 18 to 24 months....

New parents across America are taking a second look at a playpen staple of the 1950s: glass baby bottles. Replaced long ago in most U.S. households by unbreakable plastic, glass bottles are making a comeback prompted by worries about a chemical used in making the plastic. When Amber Rickert of Los Angeles first heard that a chemical might be leaching from plastic baby bottles, she felt sick -- and immediately bought glass bottles. "For me, it was like a total no-brainer.

Bisphenol-A, also known as BPA, is often used to make clear, hard plastics and to line cans containing food.  It can mimic estrogen in the human body, and has been associated with adverse health effects such as reproductive abnormalities and a higher risk of cancer and diabetes.   In many places, the substance has been banned in baby bottles and other containers.  Reports about the risks it poses usually garner a lot of attention.  But regulators have been slow to knock BPA use.  The Food and Drug Administration has called for further study of BPA, but has not banned the substance.

The evidence for bisphenol A's negative health effects keeps piling up. In a study released Monday in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the Harvard Medical School reported that the chemical interferes with reproduction in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans . Scientists had already shown that bisphenol A, which is used in many plastics and in the linings of food cans , is associated with...

Believe it or not -- considering all of the negative publicity the chemical bisphenol A has received, resulting in efforts to ban its use in baby bottles and other items for small children -- scientists didn't get around to publishing a peer-reviewed study measuring levels of the chemical in U.S. food until this week. The work was published online Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. A research team led by Arnold Schecter of the University of Texas School of Public Health measured 105 foods purchased from grocery stores in Dallas in March 2010.

Concerns about the chemical bisphenol A and its potential health risks have led many consumers to be more careful about the containers they use to carry drinking water and feed their babies. The market has responded with water bottles labeled "BPA-free. " And then, in late July, the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization, reported that high amounts of BPA are present in everyday cash register receipts, as much as 3% of the total weight of the receipt. Certainly, there would be real concerns if the bisphenol A on receipts readily sloughs off onto the fingers of cashiers and buyers, penetrates several layers of skin and enters the bloodstream at potentially toxic levels, says Kristina Thayer, a scientist at the National Toxicology Program, an interagency group charged with evaluating toxic chemicals.

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that the safety of a controversial chemical found in some baby bottles, children's drinking cups and other food containers merited further study but did not warrant immediate restrictions on its use. The FDA, the Department of Health and Human Services and other health agencies have committed $30 million to studying the health effects of bisphenol A, or BPA, and expect results in 18 to 24 months....

A state panel will not require warning labels on metal cans, plastic bottles and other products that contain bisphenol A, despite more than 200 studies that have linked the chemical to cancer and reproductive problems. Wednesday's unanimous decision may speak to the limitations of the state Environmental Protection Agency's Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee. Dorothy Burk, chairwoman of the committee, acknowledged its reach is limited.

A chemical widely found in food packaging and other plastics may cause severe genetic defects in embryos, at levels people are commonly exposed to, according to a scientific study published today. Laboratory experiments by geneticists at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio showed that bisphenol A disrupts the way that chromosomes align to produce the eggs of mice, leading to aneuploidy, which is the main cause of miscarriages and Down's syndrome in humans.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administrationannounced Friday that it will not ban the use of bisphenol A, also known as BPA, in food packaging. [For the record: In an earlier version of this post, the Natural Resources Defense Council was misidentified as the National Resources Defense Council. ] In a 12-page letter,David H. Dorsey, FDA acting associate commissioner for policy and planning, wrote that the the Natural Resources Defense Council, which had petitioned the agency to change its regulations on use of the chemical, had not provided sufficient scientific evidence to change the current regulations.

Connecticut's attorney general announced that six companies had stopped manufacturing baby bottles containing bisphenol-A, a chemical that some studies say may be harmful to infants. Attorneys general from Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey sent letters in October to 11 companies asking them to end their use of the chemical. Avent America Inc., Disney First Years, Gerber, Dr. Brown's, Playtex Products Inc. and Evenflo Co. are voluntarily complying with the request, Connecticut Atty.

Federal health officials, criticized for declaring that a controversial chemical was safe, have refused to back down and instead plan more research. The Food and Drug Administration, in a letter to independent scientific reviewers, said it was reevaluating its research on bisphenol A and carrying out additional studies. The letter was the agency's initial response to an independent report that found deep flaws in the FDA's conclusion that the chemical -- used in food packaging and also known as BPA -- was safe.