NPR mischaracterizes concern about BPA science

A National Public Radio (NPR) report by Jon Hamilton about a proposed federal ban on bisphenol A (BPA) mischaracterized the scientific concern about BPA exposure – particularly to infants and young children. 

By asserting efforts to ban BPA are based more on the slogan of "better safe than sorry" than recent scientific evidence of harm, the report seems more influenced by plastics industry trade group talking points than unbiased reporting.

This is NPR’s best effort on BPA coverage?

The American Chemistry Council insists BPA is safe despite building scientific evidence to the contrary, and is conducting a massive lobbying and media effort to defeat BPA bans being considered in states across the nation.

It's becoming undeniable that BPA is dangerous to human health and that infants and children are especially vulnerable to its hormonal effects. Babies carry more BPA in their bodies than adults, according to a group of scientists working on the issue.  As reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, newborns have between three and eleven times more BPA in their system than adults. Studies show that even miniscule amounts – parts per billion or parts per trillion – can cross the placenta and disrupt normal prenatal development and can set the stage for later life diseases such as breast cancer and prostate cancer.

Some environmental health advocates working to pass bans on BPA in the states are concerned that Hamilton’s NPR report could leave listeners with the impression that the push to regulate BPA federally and in 20 states was based on a concept – “precautionary principle” -  rather than hard scientific evidence that shows significant and irreversible harm from low doses of BPA to fetuses, infants, and young children.

“NPR’s story micharacterizes our concerns from the very beginning. We support getting rid of BPA in children's products because it causes hormonal disruptions at tiny doses,” said Bobbi Chase Wilding of the JustGreen Partnership of New York State. 

New York’s legislature is considering a ban on BPA in baby bottles, sippy cups, and food containers, childcare products and toys intended for children ages 3 and under.  Suffolk County, New York earlier this month became the first jurisdiction in the nation to ban BPA and other New York counties may be considering similar measures.

Pete Myers of Environmental Health News wrote an important article that points out the places where Hamilton, the NPR reporter, falls short on BPA science.  First, Hamilton’s assertion that “BPA can act like a weak form of estrogen” is based on outdated science. 

Second, and more significantly, Hamilton mischaracterized the dose issue, which is a central scientific finding that has led to efforts to ban BPA in infant and children's products.  The NPR report said that “high” doses may cause adverse effects – including reproductive abnormalities and cancer -  in laboratory experiments, but that is not true, according to Myers.  What is propelling the demand for regulation of BPA is that many effects can be seen in low dose studies, including those that use BPA exposure levels already present in the population. 

"The industry and regulators have known about the effects of BPA for more than 10 years," says Jennifer Sass, a senior scientist with the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council. "The public is just now realizing how long regulators have known about those effects and have failed to regulate or limit the use of BPA in consumer products," she said in a June 2008 article in Chemical & Engineering News. 

Hamilton’s story “Is ‘Better Safe Than Sorry’ Reason Enough for Law?” is the second piece he’s prepared for NPR's Plastic Peril? series this month. The first story about the CPSC’s decision to regulate phthalates was disparaged as one-sided and misleading by the environmental health community and beyond.

At SaferStates.org, we're hoping that Jon Hamilton’s reporting catches up with cutting edge science on BPA and other plastics so that NPR can regain its spot as a reliable source for environmental health news.