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Lisa =
Poole /=20
Associated Press
BornFree glass baby bottles are seen =
on display=20
in the foreground as a mother shops at Babies"R"Us, Tuesday, March 11, =
2008 in=20
Peabody, Mass. BornFree, a Florida company that started a few years ago =
with=20
BPA-free bottles and cups, added glass bottles about a year=20
ago.
Chemical in plastic may harm human growth
![3D"BPA](3D"http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-04/37907226.jpg")
Lisa =
Poole /=20
Associated Press
BornFree glass baby bottles are seen =
on display=20
in the foreground as a mother shops at Babies"R"Us, Tuesday, March 11, =
2008 in=20
Peabody, Mass. BornFree, a Florida company that started a few years ago =
with=20
BPA-free bottles and cups, added glass bottles about a year=20
ago.
A federal =
report finds=20
'some concern' that fetuses, babies and children are at risk from =
bisphenol A.=20
But plastics industry officials see no serious risk.
A controversial, estrogen-like chemical in =
plastic could be=20
harming the development of children's brains and reproductive organs, a =
federal=20
health agency concluded in a report released Tuesday.
The = National=20 Toxicology Program, part of the National Institutes of Health, concluded = that=20 there was "some concern" that fetuses, babies and children were in = danger=20 because bisphenol A, or BPA, harmed animals at low levels found in = nearly all=20 human bodies.
An=20 ingredient of polycarbonate plastic, BPA is one of the most widely used=20 synthetic chemicals in industry today. It can seep from hard plastic = beverage=20 containers such as baby bottles, as well as from liners in cans = containing food=20 and infant formula.
The federal institute is the first government = agency=20 in the U.S. to conclude that low levels of BPA could be harming humans. = Its=20 findings will be used to help regulators at federal and state = environmental=20 agencies to develop policies governing its use.
The draft report = followed=20 an 18-month review that was fraught with allegations of bias, heated = disputes=20 among scientists and the firing of a consulting company with financial = ties to=20 the chemical industry.
Some scientists suspect that exposure = early in=20 life disrupts hormones and alters genes, programming a fetus or child = for breast=20 or prostate cancer, premature female puberty, attention deficit = disorders and=20 other reproductive or neurological disorders.
In its new report, = the=20 National Toxicology Program, which reviewed about 500 laboratory animal=20 experiments, concluded that there was "some concern" that fetuses, = babies and=20 children were at risk from BPA. It rated as "negligible" the concern for = adults.
When animal fetuses or newborns are exposed, BPA "can = cause=20 changes in behavior and the brain, prostate gland, mammary gland and the = age at=20 which females attain puberty," the agency's draft report = says.
"These=20 studies only provide limited evidence for adverse effects on development = and=20 more research is needed to better understand their implications for = human=20 health," it said. "However, because these effects in animals occur at = bisphenol=20 A exposure levels similar to those experienced by humans, the = possibility that=20 bisphenol A may alter human development cannot be = dismissed."
Plastics=20 industry representatives stressed that the agency found "no serious or=20 high-level concerns." They call the lab animal experiments inconclusive = and=20 flawed.
Steven G. Hentges of the American Chemistry Council's=20 polycarbonate/BPA group said the findings "provide reassurance that = consumers=20 can continue to use products made from bisphenol A."
"The limited = evidence for effects in laboratory animals at low doses primarily = highlights=20 opportunities for additional research to better understand whether these = findings are of any significance to human health," he said.
In = the key=20 area of reproductive health, the agency reported more concern about the=20 potential dangers to children than its advisory panel did.
The = advisory=20 panel in August found "minimal" concern about effects on the prostate = and=20 puberty after siding with the plastics industry and disqualifying many = animal=20 studies that showed effects. That drew criticism from scientists who = conducted=20 the research.
But in the new report, the National Toxicology = Program=20 overruled its panel, elevating its finding about human prostates and = puberty to=20 "some concern." It also for the first time expressed concern about = effects on=20 human mammary glands, which the panel had not addressed.
The = findings=20 "break new scientific ground" by validating the low-dose animal tests, = said=20 Anila Jacob, senior scientist at Environmental Working Group, an = activist group.=20 It "reflects a significant body of science showing that BPA may play a = larger=20 role than previously thought in a host of common health problems, = including=20 prostate cancer, breast cancer and early puberty," she = said.
Frederick=20 vom Saal, a reproductive scientist at University of Missouri-Columbia = who=20 studies BPA, said the new report was "very, very much in line" with a = consensus=20 statement signed by 38 scientists last year that said the chemical could = be=20 harming babies' brains and reproductive tracts.
"This is going to = ripple=20 around the world," vom Saal said. "The bottom line is there really is a=20 convergence of opinion that is occurring."
Canada is expected = soon to=20 declare BPA a toxic substance, which would be followed by proposals to = control=20 its use. California and other states have considered but not adopted = bans on BPA=20 in products.
A year ago, the Los Angeles Times reported that the=20 government was basing its BPA decision on a summary of the science = drafted by a=20 private company, Sciences International, which had financial ties to = more than=20 50 chemical companies and groups. The company was then fired. National=20 Toxicology Program officials audited the report and found it unbiased, = so it was=20 used to reach its conclusions.
The National Toxicology Program = will=20 accept public comments on its draft report until May 23, and it will be = reviewed=20 by a new scientific panel in June.
marla.cone@latimes.com =
The = National=20 Toxicology Program, part of the National Institutes of Health, concluded = that=20 there was "some concern" that fetuses, babies and children were in = danger=20 because bisphenol A, or BPA, harmed animals at low levels found in = nearly all=20 human bodies.
An=20 ingredient of polycarbonate plastic, BPA is one of the most widely used=20 synthetic chemicals in industry today. It can seep from hard plastic = beverage=20 containers such as baby bottles, as well as from liners in cans = containing food=20 and infant formula.
The federal institute is the first government = agency=20 in the U.S. to conclude that low levels of BPA could be harming humans. = Its=20 findings will be used to help regulators at federal and state = environmental=20 agencies to develop policies governing its use.
The draft report = followed=20 an 18-month review that was fraught with allegations of bias, heated = disputes=20 among scientists and the firing of a consulting company with financial = ties to=20 the chemical industry.
Some scientists suspect that exposure = early in=20 life disrupts hormones and alters genes, programming a fetus or child = for breast=20 or prostate cancer, premature female puberty, attention deficit = disorders and=20 other reproductive or neurological disorders.
In its new report, = the=20 National Toxicology Program, which reviewed about 500 laboratory animal=20 experiments, concluded that there was "some concern" that fetuses, = babies and=20 children were at risk from BPA. It rated as "negligible" the concern for = adults.
When animal fetuses or newborns are exposed, BPA "can = cause=20 changes in behavior and the brain, prostate gland, mammary gland and the = age at=20 which females attain puberty," the agency's draft report = says.
"These=20 studies only provide limited evidence for adverse effects on development = and=20 more research is needed to better understand their implications for = human=20 health," it said. "However, because these effects in animals occur at = bisphenol=20 A exposure levels similar to those experienced by humans, the = possibility that=20 bisphenol A may alter human development cannot be = dismissed."
Plastics=20 industry representatives stressed that the agency found "no serious or=20 high-level concerns." They call the lab animal experiments inconclusive = and=20 flawed.
Steven G. Hentges of the American Chemistry Council's=20 polycarbonate/BPA group said the findings "provide reassurance that = consumers=20 can continue to use products made from bisphenol A."
"The limited = evidence for effects in laboratory animals at low doses primarily = highlights=20 opportunities for additional research to better understand whether these = findings are of any significance to human health," he said.
In = the key=20 area of reproductive health, the agency reported more concern about the=20 potential dangers to children than its advisory panel did.
The = advisory=20 panel in August found "minimal" concern about effects on the prostate = and=20 puberty after siding with the plastics industry and disqualifying many = animal=20 studies that showed effects. That drew criticism from scientists who = conducted=20 the research.
But in the new report, the National Toxicology = Program=20 overruled its panel, elevating its finding about human prostates and = puberty to=20 "some concern." It also for the first time expressed concern about = effects on=20 human mammary glands, which the panel had not addressed.
The = findings=20 "break new scientific ground" by validating the low-dose animal tests, = said=20 Anila Jacob, senior scientist at Environmental Working Group, an = activist group.=20 It "reflects a significant body of science showing that BPA may play a = larger=20 role than previously thought in a host of common health problems, = including=20 prostate cancer, breast cancer and early puberty," she = said.
Frederick=20 vom Saal, a reproductive scientist at University of Missouri-Columbia = who=20 studies BPA, said the new report was "very, very much in line" with a = consensus=20 statement signed by 38 scientists last year that said the chemical could = be=20 harming babies' brains and reproductive tracts.
"This is going to = ripple=20 around the world," vom Saal said. "The bottom line is there really is a=20 convergence of opinion that is occurring."
Canada is expected = soon to=20 declare BPA a toxic substance, which would be followed by proposals to = control=20 its use. California and other states have considered but not adopted = bans on BPA=20 in products.
A year ago, the Los Angeles Times reported that the=20 government was basing its BPA decision on a summary of the science = drafted by a=20 private company, Sciences International, which had financial ties to = more than=20 50 chemical companies and groups. The company was then fired. National=20 Toxicology Program officials audited the report and found it unbiased, = so it was=20 used to reach its conclusions.
The National Toxicology Program = will=20 accept public comments on its draft report until May 23, and it will be = reviewed=20 by a new scientific panel in June.
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