With federal disagreement over bisphenol A, what's a parent to do? USA TODAY Sept. 15, 2008

[Guest guest]

BPA is found in some breast implants!

Question: Who funded the 3 studies the

FDA is using to say it is OK?

======================================================================== * Click on this link to view more info http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-09-14-bisphenol-danger_N.htm With federal

disagreement over bisphenol A, what's a parent to do?

By Liz Szabo,

USA TODAY Sept. 15, 2008 No wonder consumers are confused about

the safety of chemicals in plastic. Even federal government agencies don't

agree about the hazards posed by bisphenol A, or BPA, an estrogen-like chemical

used in plastic that has been detected in the bodies of 93% of Americans

tested. Two weeks ago, the National

Toxicology Program said it has "some concern" that BPA alters

development of the brain and prostate gland in children and babies, both before

and after birth. Yet the Food and Drug Administration

— which will hold a public meeting about BPA Tuesday — says

children's current exposure levels to BPA are safe. Although the FDA considered

only exposures from food surfaces such as plastic bottles and the linings of

metal formula cans, BPA is used in many products, from water pipes to the

coatings on bottle caps. Many people wonder why the two

agencies — which are both part of the Department of Health and Human

Services — have drawn such different conclusions. The differences stem

partly from the controversial way that the FDA judges scientific papers. In its draft report, the FDA says it

based its safety decision on three experiments that followed "good

laboratory practices," which are meant to ensure sound results. Those

three studies — all funded by industry groups that make BPA — found

that the chemical is safe at current exposure levels. Critics say the FDA's standard is

biased and outdated, leading the agency to discount a dozen key studies that

the toxicology program used to conclude that BPA may pose a threat. Although the FDA's laboratory

guidelines aim to prevent fraud by requiring detailed notes, they don't necessarily

ensure good science, says Sonya Lunder of the Environmental Working Group, a

private organization that says BPA is dangerous. Independent academic

researchers are performing far more sophisticated tests than the ones upon

which the FDA based its decision, she says. Bucher, the toxicology

program's associate director, says his panel relied on a wider range of studies

"that pointed in the same direction," raising concern that infants

and children are exposed to potentially harmful levels of BPA. Foreign governments are divided on

the safety of BPA. While the European Food Safety Authority and the Japanese

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology say BPA is

safe, Canada has proposed banning it. READERS: Have you

stopped buying toys or other products that contain BPA? Why or why not?