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New Report Concludes BPA Is Safe

The Consortium Linking Academic and Regulatory Insights on BPA Toxicity (CLARITY) was founded six years ago by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Toxicology Program, and the FDA to determine the safety of BPA. The much-anticipated results from the CLARITY-BPA Core Study were released on September 2018. Now the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) has submitted its final report on the study indicating that BPA does not cause adverse health conditions in people who are exposed to the chemical.

What is BPA?

BPA (otherwise known as bisphenol A) is a chemical used to make certain plastics and epoxy resins. BPA is found in containers that store food and beverages and other consumer goods. It is also used as a coating for the interior of metal products, such as food cans. The chemical’s function in food and beverage containers is to help prevent dangerous bacterial contamination of the containers’ contents.

It is possible for small amounts of BPA to enter food or beverages, which has prompted concerns for years about possibly adverse effects of BPA exposure. In the past, the FDA has confirmed that BPA is safe at the low levels of exposure that most users experience.

Final Report on BPA Safety

The final report by NTP published the results of a five-year study conducted by scientists at the FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research. The study espouses previous statements made by the FDA confirming that BPA is in fact safe at the low doses to which people are generally exposed to the chemical, even when exposure occurs over the course of a lifetime. The Principal Investigator stated that BPA did not elicit “clear, biologically plausible, adverse effects.” The report’s design and methodology were approved by a panel of independent scientists who peer-reviewed the study.

Earlier Studies on the Effects of BPA

The FDA has extensively studied BPA in the past. Its previous studies support the finding that BPA is quickly expelled from the body and is therefore not likely to generate adverse health effects. The CLARITY study examined laboratory animals that were exposed to BPA from pregnancy throughout their entire life. The results resolutely confirm that BPA is safe at low levels of exposure.

Grimaldi Law Offices has been advising clients for over 20 years on chemical and product law. For knowledgeable advice and in-depth analysis on your Prop 65 compliance obligations, contact Grimaldi Law Offices at (415) 463-5186 or email us at [email protected].

Ms. Grimaldi maintains a diverse environmental law practice focusing on chemical and product regulation and litigation defense. Her practice areas include Proposition 65, California's Safer Consumer Products Regulations, California's Rigid Plastic Packaging Container Act and the federal Toxic Substances Control Act. Ms. Grimaldi graduated from the University of California Hastings College of the Law magna cum laude and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Bacteriology from University of California, Davis. Prior to attending law school, she worked as a research assistant in laboratories at the University of California, San Francisco Cancer Research Institute and at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.