European Study Suggests Bottle-Fed Infants Most at Risk for Bisphenol A Ingestion, But Exposure Levels Well Below 'Safe' Limits

Study reviews more exposure pathways than previous surveys, also concludes additional research needed on production processes for canned soup, canned meat.

ZURICH, Switzerland, March 9, 2010 - Swiss researchers examining exposure pathways for a common chemical used
in plastic containers and linings of cans find infants have the highest
estimated levels of Bisphenol A (BPA), with exposures falling with rising
age. While estimated levels are well below the Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI)
set by European authorities, the findings are important in that BPA is
thought to impact human development and is classified as an endocrine
disrupting chemical, potentially putting developing infants at risk, as well
as fetuses if pregnant mothers are exposed.

The Swiss study examines 17 different sources of potential exposure
across nine age/gender groups in the German/Swiss/Austrian population and
found the most potentially exposed group is bottle-fed infants from 0-6
months of age. This group had estimated mean dose rates of nearly 0.8
micrograms per kilogram body weight per day, well below the TDI. However "it
is of the same order of magnitude as recently reported concentrations that
caused low-dose health effects in rodents," according to the authors.

"In general humans in their developmental stages (fetus, infant, child)
seem to be exposed more severely than adults," wrote author Natalie von
Goetz, Ph.D., senior scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
in Zurich, along with colleagues Matthias Wormuth, Martin Scheringer, and
Konrad Hungerbuehler.

The European Union's TDI for BPA is 50 micrograms per kilogram body
weight per day, identical to the risk limit set by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). EPA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
announced in January they are fast-tracking studies to clarify the research
on low-dose effects of BPA exposure.

The study "Bisphenol A: How the Most Relevant Exposure Sources Contribute
to Total Consumer Exposure" appears in the March issue of the journal Risk
Analysis published by the Society for Risk Analysis.

The researchers detail the relative contributions of the most relevant
exposure pathways to arrive at estimates of total consumer exposure, while
past studies often focused on single pathways. To date, information on the
relative contribution of the different pathways to total consumer exposure is
lacking, but is key for managing substance-associated risks. Drawing on
studies of how polycarbonate bottles and containers tend to leach more
chemicals the more they are heated, the study determines from these and other
research the main source of BPA for all consumer groups is food, although
some is found in ambient air, drinking water from pipes sealed with epoxy,
and as a result of dental surgery, among other sources. For adults, the
highest dose comes from canned foods.

The highest uncertainty associated with the assessment lies in
assumptions made on the consumption of packaged food. Consequently, the
researchers focused on deriving realistic mean intake values from a range of
different studies in order to first discriminate the different

BPA sources.

The authors call for more research on finding substitutes for these uses.
The findings on dose rates for all consumers were found to closely correspond
to global biomonitoring studies that measured BPA in humans, including
surveys performed in the United States.

Risk Analysis: An International Journal is published by the nonprofit
Society for Risk Analysis (SRA). SRA is a multidisciplinary,
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forum for all those who are interested in risk analysis. Risk analysis is
broadly defined to include risk assessment, risk characterization, risk
communication, risk management, and policy relating to risk, in the context
of risks of concern to individuals, to public and private sector
organizations, and to society at a local, regional, national, or global
level. www.sra.org

Contact: Steve Gibb, +1-703-610-2441 Steve.Gibb@noblis.org or Lisa
Pellegrin, +1-571-327-4868 or Lisa.Pellegrin@noblis.org to arrange an
interview with the author(s). Note to editors: The complete study is
available upon request from Lisa Pellegrin/Steve Gibb or here:
www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/123268422/HTMLSTART

Steve Gibb, +1-703-610-2441, Steve.Gibb at noblis.org, for Society for Risk Analysis