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Bisphenol-A and right to know

Pushed by environmental and health advocacy groups across the country, the federal government took an important step forward April 18 in regulating bisphenol-A, declaring the toxic chemical a dangerous substance under the provisions of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

With its announcement, Canada became the first national regulatory authority to declare BPA toxic, although the chemical has been on scientists'' radar for several years because of its connection to breast and prostate cancer, reproductive impairment and insulin resistance in laboratory experiments with animals.

Federal health Minister Tony Clement also announced that following a 60-day public comment period, the federal government would introduce legislation formally banning the sale and importation of baby bottles made from BPA-based polycarbonate plastic. Most retailers had removed the bottle from shelves weeks before the announcement because of consumer concerns over their safety.

The toxic profile of BPA highlighted by the federal government's scientific assessment makes it urgent that the government take priority action on additional ways to limit Canadians' exposure to BPA.

"What the government has done so far is really commendable, especially since they're the first government to declare BPA toxic and to recommend banning products that pose a risk to infants," said Toxic Free Canada Research Coordinator Sean Griffin. "But if BPA is a risk to infants under 18 months of age, it's certainly a risk to infants before they're born — and that means taking action to protect pregnant women."

Griffin said that additional steps should be taken immediately to warn people, especially those who may be pregnant, where there may be exposure to BPA, such as water bottles, canned food and food packaging. "That really underlines the need for right-to-know labelling legislation so that consumers know what products contain BPA to which they could be exposed," Griffin said.

It also means the government should be developing phase-out strategies for uses of BPA where consumers are exposed, such as food can linings, polycarbonate water bottles, food packaging and other areas, he said.

Griffin raised the issue of warnings to pregnant women during a technical briefing with Health and Environment Canada April 18. But Health Canada representatives indicated nothing was planned beyond an advisory to pregnant women not to put hot liquids into polycarbonate bottles.

Along with the announcement, Health and Environment released a 106-page screening assessment of BPA outlining the health and environmental risk posed by BPA and declaring it CEPA-toxic under the provisions of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. The assessment concluded that BPA "should be considered a substance that may be entering the environment in a quantity or concentration or under conditions that constitute a danger in Canada to human life and health."

Under the provisions of the legislation, once a substance has been declared CEPA-toxic, the government has a number of options, including:

• Taking no further action
• Adding it to priority substance lists for further assessment
• Adding it to the Schedule 1 list of highly toxic substances named the Act, and then developing a risk management plan, including in some cases, virtual elimination.

Following the 60-day comment period, the government has proposed to add BPA to the Schedule 1 list, although Environment Canada representatives stated during the technical briefing that BPA would not be a candidate for virtual elimination.

Still, the screening assessment of BPA makes it clear that the risk to both health and the environment is growing as worldwide production of the chemical increases and its uses in industry expand. BPA is not manufactured in Canada but is widely used in Canadian manufacturing.

In the U.S. BPA production has grown from 7.3 million kg in 1991 to more than 1 billion kg in 2004. It is used in compact discs, medical devices, epoxy resin linings on cans, packaging materials and hundreds of industrial processes. More than 75 per cent of total production is used in making polycarbonate plastics, including clear and coloured hard water bottles.

Although BPA is not considered persistent or bioaccumulative n the environment, it has been found in groundwater and in sewage sludge, according to the assessment. It was also found to biodegrade very slowly — a year or more — under conditions where there is no oxygen. Its presence in water is a serious environmental concern because it is acutely toxic to aquatic life.

Most production processes involve some workplace exposure to BPA — as well as environmental releases — and some uses of BPA involve exposures at the consumer level, including water bottle, medical devices, food packaging and food can linings.

The paper reported that consumers show a wide range of exposures to BPA from food cans and packaging, liquids in polycarbonate containers as well as dust. Many of those exposures are in the range that are showing adverse health effects in laboratory experiments with animals, such as changes to mammary cells linked to cancer and chromosomal changes.

Studies have shown that infants under 18 months of age are showing the highest exposures, which prompted Ottawa to propose banning polycarbonate baby bottles. The move was not expected to have significant impact on sales, since consumers have already stopped buying them, and manufacturers have been offering safer plastic alternatives, in addition to glass bottles that have long been available.

Alternatives are also available for polycarbonate bottles and a phase-out program could move industry to develop alternative processes and materials for other uses, such as food can linings and packaging materials.

"We know enough about BPA to know that it's not a chemical that people should be getting in their food and their water," said Toxic Free Canada executive director Mae Burrows. "And pregnant moms will want to avoid exposing their babies to it wherever they can.

"The federal government needs to take steps to bring in right-to-know hazard labelling on products so that consumers known where they may to exposed. That will enable them to make informed choices and will push manufacturers to find alternatives."