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Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical used in many everyday household items. Since 2011, the European Union has banned its use in baby bottles and food and drink containers for children under the age of 3. The European Union also banned its use in thermal paper receipts in 2020.

Now, the European Commission is receiving feedback from citizens, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and other interested parties on a regulation for banning BPA in food contact materials, like rigid plastic food and drink containers and the lining of food and drink cans. The concern is that BPA can leach into food and be ingested, causing health issues. There is some evidence it may affect the immune system, disrupt hormones, and cause allergic reactions.

The proposed new ban follows a scientific assessment published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

EFSA Scientific Officer Cristina Croera was the lead on EFSA's BPA assessment. She told Medscape Medical News: "Dietary exposure to BPA is a health concern for consumers across all age groups. We carried out an extensive scientific assessment of the evidence to come to this conclusion and took into account input from a public consultation. We observed an increase in the percentage of a type of white blood cell called T helper 17 in the spleen of mice. T-helper cells play a key role in our cellular immune mechanisms and an increase of this kind could lead to the development of allergic lung inflammation and autoimmune disorders."

Following its investigation into recent studies, EFSA revised the limits of BPA that are considered safe in the body. It reduced its assessment of a tolerable daily intake of BPA from 4 micrograms/kg of body weight per day to 0.2 ng/kg/d. That threshold is 20,000 times lower than EFSA's last assessment in 2015.

But most Europeans could be exceeding this limit.

In the autumn of last year, the European Environment Agency (EEA) reported that 92% of participants in a European study had BPA in their urine.

Magnus Løfstedt, an EEA chemicals, environment, and health expert, told Medscape Medical News that the study investigated the concentration of BPA in urine collected from 11 countries as part of a large European human biomonitoring project. The urine levels were compared with the recently revised European safety threshold. "The results showed that we are all likely to be exposed to BPA above the safe threshold level," he said.

Evidence of Health Harms

Professor Nicolas Olea from the University of Grenada, Grenada, Spain, has been investigating the effects of chemicals on the human body for 30 years.

He told Medscape Medical News: "Bisphenol A is an endocrine disruptor whose toxicity and adverse health effects have been demonstrated multiple times and in countless studies."

Løfstedt added that it has been known for years that BPA can damage fertility and disrupt the hormone system. But it was only recently discovered that BPA also affects the immune system at very low levels, specifically cells known to be critical in the development of some autoimmune diseases like asthma.

Olea welcomed a European Union ban. "It is naive, if not stupid, to ban BPA from food containers and baby bottles for children under the age of 3 and to allow adult women of childbearing age or pregnant women to continue to be exposed to contaminants, knowing that it crosses the food barrier and reaches the embryo and fetus."

Differing Opinions

Still, not everyone agrees with EFSA's assessment. The European Medicines Agency and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment consider there is insufficient scientific evidence for EFSA's recommended tolerable daily intake.

Løfstedt explained that the two agencies say there is no certainty about an increase in immune cells leading to autoimmune diseases.

EFSA's Croera added: "Different scientists can have different views on methodologies and approaches. This is a normal part of the scientific process, and this is how science moves forward and develops. EMA [the European Medicines Agency] and EFSA have explained the differences in a joint document as required by EU law so EU legislators are aware for their decision-making. The fact that differing views exist on a methodology does not mean the health of consumers is put at risk."

Effect on Industry

If the ban is adopted, there are fears that manufacturers will replace BPA with similar chemicals, such as bisphenol S, that may also have negative health impacts.

"There is still a need to develop a range of different alternatives in order to substitute BPA in the different uses," said Løfstedt. "In this regard, it is very important to look for non-bisphenol alternatives to avoid regrettable substitution."

Any ban would have a major impact on the food packaging industry, in terms of work and costs, which would need time to make the necessary changes.

Olea said that shouldn't be a consideration: "The only thing that keeps it going is commercial interests that do not take into account the cost of the damage caused. I would deeply regret it if the younger generations, those born in the 21st century, reproach us for not having acted with the necessary diligence and honesty."