FDA's position on BPA not backed by science

A panel of scientists charged with advising the FDA on the safety of the controversial chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) has warned that the FDA has ignored studies that link the chemical to health problems.

The scientists were appointed by the FDA’s Science Board to review a report, initially released as a draft in August, and which is expected to be release formally on Oct. 31. The panel called the FDA’s conclusions “inadequate and recommended that the agency abandon its earlier findings about the safety of the controversial chemical,” according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story.

The draft report elicited criticism from lawmakers and scientists after its release in August. Critics pointed out that the report relied largely on industry-funded studies and contradicted more than 100 studies suggesting BPA is harmful to humans, according to a Dow Jones Newswires story.

The committee said in its report it "disagrees" with the FDA's decision to dismiss many other studies on BPA.

“The Subcommittee finds that the draft assessment conclusions are not supported by the available data and science,” the review says.

The studies dismissed by the FDA “raise additional and unsettling concern about potential effects from exposure to BPA,” the committee says.

In the scientific panel's report, scientists wrote, "The margins of safety identified by FDA as 'adequate' are, in fact, inadequate," according to the Associated Press.

BPA was initially developed as a synthetic hormone which mimics estrogen in the body. It later found its way into manufacturing uses, including baby bottles and the lining of infant formula cans. Studies have linked BPA to a host of health problems, including infertility, heart disease and diabetes.

The impartiality of the FDA’s BPA subcommittee was in question even before this panel’s report. The chairman of the BPA subcommittee is being investigated for accepting a $5 million donation from an outspoken BPA proponent. He never disclosed the donation.