Finally someone is going to look at the hazard that BPA poses to babies.

Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA

Michigan Democrats Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the committee on Energy and Commerce, and Rep. Bart Stupak, who chairs a subcommittee, on Thursday sent letters to seven major manufacturers of infant formula, including Nestle USA and Abbott, demanding answers about the companies' use and knowledge of the chemical bisphenol A. The pair also fired off a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, requiring the agency's commissioner to show the scientific support for its position on the chemical's safety.

The FDA in November reiterated its stance that bisphenol A is safe for infants and adults, saying it saw "no reason at this time to ban or otherwise restrict uses now authorized."

"Our primary goal is to protect infants from a potentially harmful chemical," Stupak said in a statement. "Our investigation intends to examine how the FDA determined this chemical to be safe for use in infant formula

Researchers find risks

The move by the congressmen comes on the heels of a controversial National Toxicology Program panel that downplayed the risks of bisphenol A. That report is now undergoing an extraordinary review by the toxicology program. 

In December, the Journal Sentinel reported that the panel gave more weight to industry-funded studies and more leeway to industry-funded researchers. The newspaper also found that the panel missed dozens of studies publicly available that the Journal Sentinel found online using a medical research Internet search engine. The newspaper also found an overwhelming majority of independent scientific research determined that bisphenol A causes harm to lab animals.

Steven G. Hentges, executive director of the American Chemistry Council's Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group, said that the amounts of bisphenol A that may leach into formula do not pose any danger to people. He said the FDA and regulators in Europe agree with that position.



http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=708628
and
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8U7US6G0.htm


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