From CBC News:

Despite ongoing safety concerns from parents, consumer groups and politicians, a chemical used in baby bottles, canned food and other items is not dangerous, federal regulators in the U.S. said Friday.

Food and Drug Administration scientists said the trace amounts of bisphenol A that leach out of food containers are not a threat to infants or adults. The plastic-hardening chemical is used to seal canned food and make shatterproof bottles. It also used in hundreds of household items, ranging from sunglasses to CDs…

The agency previously declared the chemical safe, but agreed to revisit that opinion after a report by the federal National Toxicology Program said there was “some concern” about its risks in infants. Based on a review of animal studies, the government working group said bisphenol can cause changes in behaviour and the brain, and that it may reduce survival and birth weight in fetuses…

Canada has announced its intention to ban the use of the chemical in baby bottles. In the spring of 2008, many retailers in Canada said they were ridding their stores of products containing bisphenol A.

U.S. lawmakers have introduced legislation to ban bisphenol in children’s products.

Click on the above link for the full story. A PDF of the draft report is available here.

From the Stoneham Sun:

On June 10, U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, who represents the 7th District of Massachusetts that includes Stoneham, filed a bill, HR 6228, that would ban the use of BPA in all food and drink packaging…

The bill that Markey filed is now in a congressional subcommittee. It then goes to a House committee, followed by discussion on the House floor, and then to the Senate. If it’s passed, it will go into effect 180 days after it becomes law.

Click on the above link for the full story. We will be watching this one as it progresses through the House.

From FoodProductionDaily:

The European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) said that there is no risk to consumers from using packaging containing Bisphenol A (BPA), which follows similar findings from TNO last month…

It is permitted for use in food contact materials in the EU, under Commission Directive 2002/72/EC…

“We found that the margin of safety is high enough in relation to consumer exposure of BPA in plastic packaging and, as a result, there is no need for further information, testing or risk reduction measures beyond those which are being applied already,” ECB’s Karin Aschberger told FoodProductionDaily.com…

Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced this week that a subcommittee of its Science Board will hold a public meeting on the safety of BPA in plastics, review an Agency Task Force report on the topic, and deliver its findings to the Board’s annual meeting in autumn….

The FDA formed an agency-wide BPA Task Force in April to facilitate review of current research and new information on BPA.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently announced its decision to review its previous advice on safe levels of BPA in food packaging and provide updates on its deliberations, following assessments from Canada and the US. It said that it expects to provide further advice on the chemical next month…

In January 2007, the EFSA published its own risk assessment on BPA, in which it established a full tolerable daily intake of 0.05 milligram/kg body weight…

Click on the above link for the full article.

It appears that the EU will follow Canada’s lead on BPA in baby bottles. From AFP:

The EU food safety watchdog EFSA said Tuesday it may review its clearance of bisphenol A for use in the manufacture of plastic baby bottles after Canada moved to ban the substance.

“EFSA is aware of the studies on bisphenol published in the United States and Canada,” spokeswoman Anne-Laure Gassin told AFP. “The agency will examine whether it should review its opinion on this product, which dates from January 2007.”

The European Food Safety Authority, headquartered in Parma, northern Italy, will reach a decision soon, she said.

Click on the above link for the full article.

As promised earlier today, we have the Health Canada annoucement. Here is a snippet of the press release:

…Canada is the first country in the world to complete a risk assessment of bisphenol A in consultation with industry and other stakeholders, and to initiate a 60 day public comment period on whether to ban the importation, sale and advertising of polycarbonate baby bottles which contain bisphenol A.

The comment period will begin on April 19, 2008, once the Government publishes a summary notice of its assessment findings in Canada Gazette, Part 1.

…Canada is the first country in the world to complete a risk assessment of bisphenol A in consultation with industry and other stakeholders, and to initiate a 60 day public comment period on whether to ban the importation, sale and advertising of polycarbonate baby bottles which contain bisphenol A.

The comment period will begin on April 19, 2008, once the Government publishes a summary notice of its assessment findings in Canada Gazette, Part 1.

Click on the above link for the full release. At first glance, what is most interesting from an industry perspective is that this bisphenol A comment period only covers baby bottles.

UPDATE: The annoucement has arrived. It is available here.

We have been receiving a few questions about this issue this morning. As soon as something official is released, we will let you know. CTV expects the annoucement to come today:

Health Canada is expected to announce today that bisphenol A is a dangerous substance — a move that would allow the government to regulate its use.

Health Minister Tony Clement and Environment Minister John Baird, along with Secretary of State for agriculture, Christian Paradis, are scheduled to appear at a press conference in Ottawa Friday afternoon.

Bisphenol A is the main component of polycarbonate, the hard, clear glass-like plastic that is part of hundreds of everyday household products, from water bottles to home electronics to baby bottles.

According to the same article, many retailers in Canada are already pulling products from shelves:

Previous reports claimed the announcement would come as early as last Wednesday. That prompted several Canadian retailers to pull products containing bisphenol A from their shelves.

The Forzani Group, which owns and operates several sporting-good stores, the Hudson’s Bay Company, Home Depot, London Drugs and Rexall Pharmacies decided to pull water bottles and other products that contain the chemical from their shelves this week.

In the last year, retailers such as Mountain Equipment Co-op stopped selling water bottles containing bisphenol A.

This annoucement, if it comes today, will be ahead of the schedule indicated by the New York Times on Wednesday:

The Canadian government is said to be ready to declare as toxic a chemical widely used in plastics for baby bottles, beverage and food containers as well as linings in food cans.

A person with knowledge of the government’s chemical review program spoke on the condition he not be named because of a confidentiality agreement. He said the staff work to list the compound, called bisphenol-a, or B.P.A., as a toxic chemical was complete and was recently endorsed by a panel of outside scientists.

A public announcement by Health Canada may come as early as Wednesday but could be delayed until the end of May. Canada would be the first country to make a health finding against B.P.A., which has been shown to disrupt the hormonal systems of animals. The department’s decision was first reported in The Globe and Mail, a Toronto newspaper, on Tuesday.

The Times today also reported that some manufacturers are already looking to alternatives:

Nalgene, the brand that popularized water bottles made from hard, clear and nearly unbreakable polycarbonate, will stop using the plastic because of growing concern over one of its ingredients.

Nalgene brand water bottles had used bisphenol-a, which some studies in animals linked to hormonal changes.

The decision by Nalgene Outdoor Products, a unit of Thermo Fisher Scientific, based in Rochester, came after reports that the Canadian government would declare the chemical bisphenol-a, or BPA, toxic. Some animal studies have linked the chemical to changes in the hormonal system.

Those reports also prompted many of Canada’s largest retailers, including Wal-Mart Canada, to remove food-related products made with plastics containing the compound chemical, like baby bottles, toddler sipping cups and food containers, from their stores this week.

As soon as something official is released from Health Canada, we will post an update.

From the OEHHA:

On January 18, 2008 the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) published a notice in the California Regulatory Notice Register (Register 2008, No. 3-Z) soliciting information relevant to the assessment of the evidence of developmental and reproductive toxicity for five chemicals (bisphenol A, chlorpyifos, chromium (hexavalent), DDE, and sulfur dioxide). OEHHA will begin preparation of hazard identification materials for the five chemicals with the expectation of bringing them forward to the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee at future meetings for the Committee’s consideration for listing under Proposition 65.

OEHHA has received a request to extend the comment period for bisphenol A to allow for the submittal of complete and relevant scientific information. OEHHA hereby extends the public comment period for bisphenol A to 5 p.m., Thursday, April 17, 2008. Please note that the original 60‑day public comment period initiated on January 18, 2008 for the other four chemicals will close as announced on March 18, 2008.

More information is available at the above link.

Recent Release from the OEHHA:

Announcement of Chemicals Selected by OEHHA for Consideration for Listing by the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee and Request for Relevant Information on the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity of These Chemicals: Bisphenol-A, Chlorpyrifos, Chromium, DDE, Sulfur dioxide

The California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is the lead agency for the implementation of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986* (Proposition 65). The Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee (DARTIC) of OEHHA’s Science Advisory Board serves as the State’s qualified experts for rendering an opinion whether a chemical has been clearly shown through scientifically valid testing according to generally accepted principles to cause reproductive toxicity. The chemicals identified by the DARTIC are added to the Proposition 65 list, which must be updated annually.

OEHHA has selected five chemicals for the Committee’s review for possible listing under Proposition 65 and is initiating the development of hazard identification materials on these chemicals…

Chemical [ CAS No. ]

Bisphenol-A [ 80-05-7 ]

Chlorpyrifos [ 2921-88-2 ]

Chromium (hexavalent) [ 18540-29-2 ]

DDE [ 72-55-9 ]

Sulfur dioxide [ 7446-09-5 ]

For more information, click on the above link.

Electronics Supply and Manufacturing on new regulations from Norway. The full article is an absolute must-read for anyone doing business in Norway; here are the hilights:

There are six hazardous substances that the electronics industry has been struggling to phase-out for a couple of years now: lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, and the flame retardants polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE). This is per the European Union’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive, which restricted the use of the substances in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) to certain maximum concentration values (MCV) in homogeneous material (0.01 % by weight for cadmium and 0.1% by weight for the other five substances).

Other jurisdictions followed or are following the European Community’s example, e.g. California (except for the flame retardants), Korea and China. Most recently, Norway created a proposal for new regulations restricting the use of not less than 18 substances in consumer goods…

Within the 18 restricted substances only two — lead and cadmium — are restricted under the EU RoHS directive. The 18 substances include:

• Brominated flame retardants : hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA)
• Chlorinated paraffins
• Arsenic (and arsenic compounds)
• Lead (and lead compounds)
• Cadmium (and cadmium compounds)
• Organic tin compounds: tributyltin compounds (TBT) and triphenyltin compounds
• Fragrance substances: musk ketone and musk xylene
• Perfluorinated compounds
• Surfactants: DTDMAC, DODMAC/DSDMAC and DHTDMAC
• Bisphenol
• Diethylhexylphtalate (DEHP)
• Pentachlorphenol
• Triclosan

More information is availabel in the full article.

A Prop 65 annoucement by the OEHHA: Chemicals Submitted to the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee for Consultation:

The California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is the lead agency for the implementation of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65). In this notice, OEHHA is announcing the list of chemicals identified through the “Process for Prioritizing Chemicals for Consideration Under Proposition 65 by the State’s Qualified Experts,” which was adopted in 2004. These chemicals have been identified for possible preparation of hazard identification materials. OEHHA will consult with the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee (DARTIC) at meeting of the DARTIC scheduled for Monday, December 10, 2007 concerning whether to prepare hazard identification materials for any of the following chemicals:

Bisphenol-A (CAS# 80-05-7)

Bromodichloromethane (CAS# 75-27-4)

Caffeine (CAS# 58-08-2)

Chlorpyrifos (CAS# 2921-88-2)

Chromium (hexavalent) (CAS# 18540-29-2)

DDE (CAS# 72-55-9)

Methylisocyanate (CAS# 624-83-9)

Sulfur dioxide (CAS# 7446-09-5)

For the full release, see: Chemicals Submitted to the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee for Consultation.