On November 20, 2015, the European Commission's
Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety ("DG
SANTE") published a Roadmap for a new measure on bisphenol A
("BPA") in food contact materials ("FCMs"),
such as plastic (polycarbonates) and coatings (epoxy resins). Its
use in FCMs is approved, and it is only banned for polycarbonate
infant feeding bottles. Following uncertainties surrounding
potential health effects, EFSA conducted a re-evaluation of the risks to human health
associated with exposure to BPA and concluded in January 2015
that "BPA poses no health risk to consumers of any age group
(including unborn children, infants and adolescents) at current
exposure levels." See our previous Update. However, EFSA's scientific opinion
considerably reduced the "tolerable daily intake" or
"TDI" from 50 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per
day (µg/kg of bw/day) to 4 µg/kg of bw/day.
Furthermore, since January 2015, the presence of BPA in any type of
FCM is banned in France, and other Member States have introduced
measures to reduce the presence of BPA in FCMs for children. In
response to the EFSA re-evaluation and to the emergence of
diverging national rules concerning the use of BPA, the Roadmap
presents and assesses the following five options for harmonizing
the use of BPA in FCMs: (i) no policy change, (ii) modification of
legislative restrictions for BPA only in plastic FCMs at EU level,
(iii) modification of legislative restrictions for BPA in plastic
FCMs at EU level and introduction of measures for BPA in coatings
and varnishes at EU level, (iv) modification of legislative
restrictions for BPA in plastic FCMs at EU level and introduction
of measures for BPA in food contact coatings and varnishes as well
as other food contact materials in which BPA may be present, and
(v) ban on BPA in all FCMs at EU level. No time frame is specified
for an implementation plan; however, DG SANTE plans to discuss next
steps with "all relevant stakeholders including EU Member
States and industry." The Roadmap is open for public consultation until December 17,
2015.
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