The FDA's new safety assessment concludes that BPA is safe at the current levels occurring in food contact applications. "Based on FDA's ongoing safety review of scientific evidence, the available information continues to support the safety of BPA for the currently approved uses in food containers and packaging," the FDA stated.
BPA is a synthetic estrogen used to produce polycarbonate (PC) polymers and epoxy resins. The chemical has faced controversy due to studies linking BPA to an array of adverse health effects, including cancer, obesity, abnormal brain development and reproductive problems. Earlier this year, Health Canada conducted a study on BPA and pregnancy, which found that dietary exposure to BPA through food packaging is not expected to pose a health risk to the general population, including newborns and young children.
In the fall of 2014, FDA experts from across the agency, specializing in toxicology, analytical chemistry, endocrinology, epidemiology, and other fields, completed a four-year review of more than 300 scientific studies. The FDA review has not found any information in the evaluated studies to prompt a revision of FDA's safety assessment of BPA in food packaging at this time.
As soon as the FDA's assessment was made public, a new report came out in the American Heart Association journal that claims BPA in cans is linked to an increased blood pressure.
So it seems like BPA isn't going away from the headlines anytime soon.
