✚ What is bisphenol A?
It is a substance known since 1936 that was synthesized as an estrogenic compound. An English scientist was looking for chemical compounds that had the same activity as the natural female hormone, estradiol, but had a different chemical formula; and he described a group of 10 or 12, the most important of which was diethylstilbestrol and another, less potent, bisphenol A.
✚ When does it recover? What are its applications?
It is recovered again in the sixties of the last century, as it forms a polymer that we know as polycarbonate plastic or epoxy resin. Those are the two great applications.
✚ Where is it used?
Banned from baby bottles in 2011, it is used, for example, in epoxy resins used to make protective coatings and foils for cans as well as food and drink containers. It is also used in polycarbonate plastics, a clear, rigid plastic that is used to make reusable water dispensers, food storage containers, and beverage bottles.
✚ How is pollution produced?
These chemicals can migrate in very small amounts to food or drink from the packaging or containers that contain them, so EFSA scientists regularly review their safety, taking into account data from new studies.
✚ With what detrimental health effects is it associated?
It has a hormonal effect; It is an endocrine disruptor, as it interferes with female sex hormones. It has been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders in children, with obesity, diabetes and infertility. It does not produce DNA mutations or damage the embryo. What it does have is a hormonal effect, which, although weak, exposure is very important. Everyone is exposed.
✚ Have the permissible values been reduced?
In 2015, experts set a temporary Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) due to the uncertainties still shown by the evidence. They have now set a new TDI of 0.2 nanograms (0.2 billionths of a gram) per kilogram of body weight per day, up from the previous temporary level of 4 micrograms (4 millionths of a gram) per kilogram of body weight per day. It is 20,000 times lower.
✚ Are there alternatives?
Some substitutes for bisphenol A have a very similar structure and properties to the substituted substance and "usually have a similar environmental and human health impact, so they would not be a advisable alternative," says Ethel Eljarrat, a CSIC researcher. This expert sees it necessary to also have studies on the possible effects of these other compounds, to assess whether this replacement is safe. For this reason, the new European Union guidelines on toxic chemicals advise that restrictions be established for families of compounds and not for a specific compound.
