Bisphenol A: 6 Questions and Answers

What is bisphenol A?

Bisphenol A is a chemical found in polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins.

Polycarbonate plastics are used in certain food and drink packaging (including some water bottles and baby bottles) and also in compact discs, computers, impact-resistant safety equipment (such as helmets and goggles), and medical devices.

Polycarbonate plastics that contain bisphenol A usually have a No. 7 on the bottom, within the "chasing arrows" used to sort plastics for recycling, according to the National Institute on Environmental Health (NIEHS). But the American Chemistry Council, an industry group, strongly advises against using those recycling codes for any purpose other than sorting your recycling, since the numbers aren't about bisphenol A or other plastic chemicals.

Epoxy resins line metal products such as canned foods, bottle tops, and water supply pipes.

Is bisphenol A safe?

In a draft report, government scientists note "some concern" about bisphenol A's possible effects, based on lab tests in rodents. But that report isn't final, and the scientists aren't calling bisphenol A unsafe.

Those scientists, who work for the National Toxicology Program, agree with their advisory panel's 2007 conclusion that there is "some concern" about possible neural and behavioral effects in fetuses, infants, and children at current human exposures. The NTP also has "some concern" for bisphenol A exposure effects in the prostate gland, mammary gland, and an earlier age for puberty in females. A panel of experts convened by the NTP last year wasn't as concerned about those potential effects.

None of that research was done on people. The American Chemistry Council, an industry group, says that the potential human exposure to bisphenol A is "extremely small" and that bisphenol A poses no known risks to human health.

"Consumers would have to eat more than 500 pounds of food and beverages in contact with polycarbonate plastic or epoxy resins every day of their lives to exceed exposure levels determined to be safe by the European Food Safety Authority and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency," states the American Chemistry Council, adding that typical human exposure to bisphenol A "is approximately 1,000 times below the safe exposure levels."

On April 18, 2008, Canada's government issued a bisphenol A risk assessment that mainly focused on babies up to 18 months of age who are fed through polycarbonate bottles exposed to high temperatures. The Canadian government concluded that bisphenol A exposure for those babies is "below levels that may pose a risk." 

But the Canadian government says that "to be prudent," it proposes banning bisphenol A in polycarbonate baby bottles and taking other steps to reduce bisphenol A exposure in babies.

In response, the American Chemistry Council says that while it respects Canada's decision, the move isn't based on science. The council also says it has asked the FDA to "re-review the safety of bisphenol A for additional reassurance to the public on the safety of consumer products." The FDA is conducting such a review. Meanwhile, the FDA isn't recommending that people stop using products containing bisphenol A.