Politicians, scientists and businesses are in the midst of a mammoth tug-of-war regarding the safety of bisphenol-A, a chemical used in a wide variety of common household products, the The New York Times reports.
Some scientists, including a number on White House advisory panels, link BPA, as bisphenol-A is commonly called, to cancer, liver disease and child obesity, among other maladies.
But other researchers come away with opposite findings — even in supposedly identical experiments.
Amid the scientific ambiguity, some Democratic politicians and environmental groups are clamoring for restrictions on BPA. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, introduced legislation this year to ban the chemical.
On the other hand, anti-regulation activists claim that with little definitively known about BPA, there is no basis for outlawing a chemical that can be found in food cans, drinking bottles, baby products and even dental sealant, among many other widely used products. The result, thus far, has been the perpetuation of the status quo.
Some companies aren’t waiting for politicians or scientists to reach a consensus, and are using the “BPA-free” label as a marketing tool. Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, and CVS are just a few of the retailers that have stopped selling baby products with BPA. Sunoco, a major BPA producer, has said that it will sell the chemical only to manufacturers that promise not to use it in children’s food or drink containers.
Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, told the Times that a new wave of current government BPA studies, which are examining the chemical’s impact on animals, should go a long way to sort out the controversy.
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