Canada has followed through on plans, first presented in April 2008, to restrict the use of bisphenol A (BPA) – see Plasteurope.com of 21.04.2008 and 18.04.2008. On 18 October 2008 it became the first country to formally declare the chemical, used as a polycarbonate feedstock as well as in epoxy resin can liners, a health hazard. At the same time, the government announced an intended ban on PC baby bottles. Health minister Tony Clement said the restrictions on BPA proposed to take effect in early 2009 would be directed at products used by children under 18 months, adding that “most Canadians need not be concerned” about health effects.

Clement said the six-month public consultation carried out by the government, which included input from scientists, had helped formulate the final risk assessment by the national health authority, HealthCanada. The authority said it had determined that the main sources of exposure for newborns and infants are through leaching from PC bottles and formula cans. The environmental authority, EnvironmentCanada, said it had found BPA to be entering the environment through wastewater, washing residues and leaching from landfills.

The Canadian government has allocated around USD 1.7m over the next three years to fund research on BPA, in addition to studies it already has in progress. Numerous other studies continue to emerge, many claiming hazards related to the chemical. In a recent article in the journal “Environmental Health Perspectives” (2008; doi: 10.1289/enp.11788), Nira Ben-Jonathan, a research scientist at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio / USA, claims to have found indications that exposure to normal doses of BPA could reduce the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs, rendering breast cancer cells resistant.

Also in the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, www.fda.gov) has again come under fire. News reports suggest that the authority’s latest study could be seen as “less than fully independent,” as the FDA sub-committee investigating BPA is chaired by Martin Philbert, acting director of the University of Michigan’s Risk Science Center, which has received a USD 5m donation from Charles Gelman, retired owner of a medical device manufacturing company and an “ardent defender” of BPA. The FDA said Philbert did not disclose the connection. The authority’s final report is due out by the end of October.