A group of scientists has published a report stating that the FDA was wrong to assert that the common chemical in plastics is harmless. BPA, according to the report,
From can affect brain and behavioral development in infants and kids.

The Food and Drug Administration ignored scientific evidence and used flawed methods when it determined that a chemical widely used in baby bottles and in the lining of cans is not harmful, a scientific advisory panel has found.

In a highly critical report to be released today, the panel of scientists from government and academia said the FDA did not take into consideration scores of studies that have linked bisphenol A (BPA) to prostate cancer, diabetes and other health problems in animals when it completed a draft risk assessment of the chemical last month. The panel said the FDA didn’t use enough infant formula samples and didn’t adequately account for variations among the samples.

Taking those studies into consideration, the panel concluded, the FDA’s margin of safety is “inadequate”. The panel is part of the Science Board, a committee of advisers to the FDA commissioner, and was set up to review the FDA’s risk assessment of BPA.

Many of the studies that the panel said the FDA ignored were reviewed by the National Toxicology Program, which concluded in September that it had “some concern” that BPA can affect brain and behavioral development in infants and small children.

Bisphenol A, a compound found in many water bottles and known to leach into water has now been linked to brain and mood problems in primates.

Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have linked a chemical found in everyday plastics to problems with brain function and mood disorders in monkeys — the first time the chemical has been connected to health problems in primates.

The study is the latest in an accumulation of research that has raises concerns about bisphenol A, or BPA, a compound that gives a shatterproof quality to polycarbonate plastic and has been found to leach from plastic into food and water.

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BPA, in commercial use since the 1950s, is found in a wide variety of everyday items, including sports bottles, baby bottles, food containers and compact discs. One recent federal study estimated that the chemical is found in the urine of 93 percent of the population.

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Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is sponsoring a bill to prohibit BPA from children’s products, while Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) wants to bar it from all food and drink packaging.

Canada intends to ban the chemical from baby bottles and Wal-Mart and Toys R Us intend to drop bisphenol A products next year. For those not wanting to wait until next year to avoid harmful toxins, there are some plastic baby and sports bottles without BPA. I reviewed the excellent and inexpensive Platypus water bottles in April.