Chemical industry on the ropes

Chemical and food industry representatives held a closed-door meeting at an exclusive Washington, D.C. club late last week to discuss how to turn the tide of increasingly negative public opinion surrounding the toxic chemical bisphenol A, according to weekend reports in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Washington Post.

The industry is concerned about several recent state bans on BPA in some food containers, and worries that upcoming bans could expand to canned food and beverages. Food and soda cans are lined with BPA and the chemical is present in many hard plastics like baby bottles and reusable food storage containers. Click here to read about the damaging health effects of BPA.

Meeting notes obtained by the Journal Sentinel and the Post reveal that the industry representatives feel they can no longer make an argument for BPA’s safety based on science and they will now be exploring public relations strategies like scare tactics and commercials featuring a pregnant spokeswoman touting BPA’s safety.

The group agreed to spend $500,000 to survey Americans on their attitudes about BPA.

According to the Post:

Those at the meeting held at the Cosmos Club "believe a balance of legislative and grassroots outreach [to mothers 21 to 35 years old and students] is imperative to the stability of their industry; however, the association members continue to struggle to initiate research and develop a clear-cut plan to defend their industry," an unidentified participant wrote.

Industry representatives weighed a range of ideas, including "using fear tactics [e.g. "Do you want to have access to baby food anymore?" as well as giving control back to consumers (e.g. you have a choice between the more expensive product that is frozen or fresh or foods packaged in cans) as ways to dissuade people from choosing BPA-free packaging," the notes said.

Kathleen M. Roberts, a lobbyist with Bergeson and Campbell for the North American Metal Packaging Alliance told the Post that the general public doesn’t understand the potential ramifications of banning BPA without an alternative chemical in place. The chemistry industry routinely implies that no such chemical exists. But, the Post points out, that’s not true.

A commercial alternative to BPA does exist; Japan has significantly reduced its use of BPA in many canned goods. Roberts acknowledged that alternatives are available but not for all uses currently in the marketplace.

Richard Wiles, executive director of the activist Environmental Working Group, told the Journal Sentinel that he was surprised by the memo.

"I mean, it seems over the top, even by industry," Wiles said. "I'm amazed in this day and age they'd write this stuff down."

Wiles compared the chemical industry’s situation to that of the tobacco and asbestos industries when they realized they couldn’t make a safety argument based on science. Both industries moved toward exactly what was discussed in this meeting: fear tactics and public relations.