EPA-Backed Study: Products Containing BPA Harmless

The US Environmental Protection Agency officially backed a study last week underscores what scientists around the world have been saying for years: BPA is not a significant public health risk.

The study proved what many others have indicated was true: Humans metabolize BPA very quickly and pass it before it can do any harm. Accordingly, we should not fear the fact that BPA is found in human urine as many greens say we should. CEI had detailed many of the other reasons we should not fear BPA and why it is critically important to protecting human health.

For roughly half a century, the industrial chemical BPA has been used in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, helping to create thousands of useful products. The invaluable compound came under siege in 2008 by green activists obsessed with its supposed carcinogenic properties.

Despite years of extensive tests repeatedly making the case for its safety, governments the world over have declared war on BPA, enacting nanny state policies banning its usage. Canada has banned BPA from baby bottles, and in the face of at least two opinions from the European Food Safety Agency, the European Union worked to ban it as well.

In the recent EPA-backed study conducted by Justin Teeguarden at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 20 adult humans were primarily fed canned foods and beverages, a potentially significant source of BPA. Over a 24 hour period, blood, urine, and tissue samples were taken hourly from the participants. The tests revealed that the human body quickly metabolizes or releases BPA, making it essentially harmless due to its short-lived existence within the body.

Surprisingly, the EPA emerges as the proverbial knight-in-shining-armor, out to rescue a beneficial compound from certain ruin. The very likely reality appears that help came too little too late. The damage may have already been done.

Fear and hysteria by green groups have impacted public opinion about BPA. A US company, Sigg Switzerland USA, once produced metal drinking bottles. At the start of the BPA scare, Sigg began to cash in on the mass transition away from plastic bottles due to the fear of contamination. Once speculation arose regarding the presence of BPA in the lining of Sigg’s bottles, however, lawsuits and campaigns against the corporation eventually drove Sigg Switzerland USA into bankruptcy.

While the study might be a win for the EPA, the deliberation over bisphenol-A has certainly been a costly and time consuming lesson. BPA should be here to stay, but thanks to fanning the flames of fear, it probably won’t be making a comeback anytime soon. Moving forward, let’s not sacrifice technological and economic progress for the sake of unfounded uncertainty.