Last week, the FDA had a public meeting with their scientific advisors to give a regular quarterly update on what is happening at the Agency. This included an update on the re-evaluation of BPA that has now been slated for completion by the end of November. FDA also detailed the new studies that are being conducted in cooperation with the National Toxicology Program to help fill in some of the data gaps identified in the last report.

Though we are encouraged that the new FDA administration is responding to the harsh criticisms of their last evaluation of BPA in food containers, we remain concerned that the Agency staff conducting the reevaluation have a history of close contact with the industry and relied on industry studies to conclude BPA is safe. I've blogged previously about all the health concerns that have been linked to BPA exposure.

We could have guessed that with all the renewed scrutiny at the FDA and several states considering BPA bans, including California, that the industry is going to go into full defense mode to protect the blockbuster sales of this chemical, estimated at over $6 billion dollars per year. Just last month, they pulled all the plays out of their exposed playbook, including claims that canned food would disappear from store shelves if BPA were regulated.  

Over the weekend, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote another story about industry ploys to keep BPA in the marketplace.  This latest article details new tactics being used by the plastics industry to downplay the risks of this chemical and to discredit any health claims made against. They not only used some of the same tactics as the tobacco industry, they used the same lobbyists! We all know how successful the tobacco industry was for so long in keeping their product from being regulated. Now that they have been publicly shamed, the BPA industry is hoping we won't remember and be fooled again. The tactics being used to keep BPA from being regulated and banned include not only influencing the BPA assessment at the FDA but also putting up information on the internet sites such as YouTube, MySpace and Twitter disguised as independent information with no links to the sources. The newspaper story reports the plastics group has also launched a $10 million campaign targeting young adults.

In addition to this industry spin, we learned last week that the manufacturer of a popular water bottle, Sigg, is now admitting that their bottles used to contain BPA.There is bound to be backlash against this company for not being upfront about what chemicals were used in the lining of their bottle and for marketing their product as "BPA-free". Consumers should be wary of buying any aluminum water bottle as many are still made with an epoxy resin lining that contains BPA and can leach significant levels depending on the quality of the product.

So what is an unsuspecting consumer to do? The same advice that we have given previously still applies. Check out our fact sheet on BPA and other plastics for things you can do to reduce your exposure. 

In the meantime, NRDC will continue to press FDA to make decisions based on the today's overall weight of evidence, which strongly suggests that BPA is dangerous for developing fetuses and young children. We also will continue to support state efforts to ban BPA in products. If you are in the Sacramento area, please come join us at a rally at the Capitol this Wed. to support a BPA ban in baby bottles, sippy cups and infant formula.