Industry states bisphenol A (BPA) is safe; certain special interest groups say it is not. Whom should I believe?
Expert regulatory authorities around the world have unanimously declared that BPA-based epoxy coatings are safe for food packaging. Participants in this debate have different perspectives on the safety of BPA. BPA is one of the most extensively tested materials in use today. The toxicological effects of BPA are well understood. As with most chemicals, BPA exhibits toxic effects only at very high levels of exposure. BPA is not a carcinogen, and it is not a reproductive or developmental toxin. Some studies, however, have shown BPA to exhibit extremely weak hormonal activity. Activity has also been observed in compromised laboratory animals at high doses of BPA. Reproduction and development were not affected by relatively high levels of BPA in multi-generational studies, which were designed to detect disruptions in normal hormone activity. Estrogenic activity was seen in animals that were administered large doses of BPA or animals exposed via only experimental routes of exposure, such as
