Why Did FDA Assess the Safety of Bisphenol A?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the agency in the United States that is responsible for regulating products that contact food. Since bisphenol A is used primarily to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, both of which are used in food-contact products (e.g., baby bottles, water bottles, food containers), FDA has an interest in the safety of bisphenol A. Although polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins have been authorized by FDA for use in food-contact products for decades, a large amount of scientific information relevant to the safety of bisphenol A has been generated in recent years. This information has been reviewed recently by numerous scientific and government bodies around the world, including the US National Toxicology Program (NTP).(1) The NTP report provides scientific information to FDA, but by itself does not provide a complete safety assessment and NTP has no regulatory responsibility. How Was the Safety Assessment Conducted? With the availability of the N
