Citing a lack of scientific evidence that it harms humans, the us fda food & drug administration has decided not to ban the industrial chemical bisphenola bpa from use in food packaging. The fda had been petitioned to ban it by the natural resources defense council nrdc, who pointed out that bisphenola had been shown to cause brain changes, chromosomal abnormalities and some cancers in animals. The ndrc further claimed that there was &ldquoemerging&rdquo research on humans that suggested a link between bisphenola and miscarriage, cardiovascular disease, erectile dysfunction, diabetes and changed toddler behaviour. The fda indicated that studies had not accurately reflected how the chemical would normally be ingested, and that the sample size of studies was small. It did, however, say that it would keep the situation under review.
Bisphenola is used in the production of hard plastic bottles and as a protective lining in food cans. It is described as a toxic, hormonealtering chemical and its use in infant food packaging has been banned by several us states as well as by the european union, china and canada.
