FDA Agrees to Respond on BPA Risk by March 31

BPAKids — FDA Agrees to Respond on BPA Risk by March 31

The FDA agreed to decide by March 31, 2012 whether bisphenol A, the controversial chemical known as BPA, should be banned from use in food and beverage packaging.

The FDA agreed to the deadline as part of the settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Over three years ago, NRDC filed a petition with FDA asking it to ban the use of BPA as a food additive. Federal law requires the FDA to respond within 180 days. After waiting 18 months NRDC filed a lawsuit requesting the court to intervene. Now as part of that suit the FDA settled agreeing to decide on the ban my March 31.

BPA has been in the news a good deal this year, twice in soup cans stories (here and here), in food packaging studies (here) and when other environmental and consumer groups sought a ban in baby products (here).

The NRDC describes BPA as a “synthetic chemical which mimics the female sex hormone, estrogen.” Many scientific studies have linked it to reproductive harm, cancer, and abnormal brain development.

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FDA Agrees to Respond on BPA Risk by March 31

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