Food exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical substance widely used in various products, "constitutes a health problem for consumers of all age groups". These are the conclusions of the scientists of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) collected in a new reassessment. Experts believe that it can trigger "a development of allergic lung inflammation and autoimmune disorders".
In this new assessment, EFSA experts identify the potentially harmful effects of this chemical on the immune system.
Banned from baby bottles in 2011, bisphenol A is used, among many other uses, in epoxy resins, used to make protective coatings and foils for cans, as well as beverage and food containers.
The origin of the problem lies in the fact that this kind of chemical substance, used in containers of food products, can migrate in very small quantities into the food and drinks that contain it, so EFSA scientists periodically review it the safety
A large number of scientific publications were examined for this reassessment, including more than 800 new studies published as of January 2013.
"In the studies we observed a percentage increase in a class of white blood cells called T helper, in the spleen. They play an essential role in our cellular immune mechanisms and this increase could lead to the development of allergic lung inflammation and autoimmune disorders", said Claude Lambré, president of the technical commission that carried out the EFSA evaluation .
EFSA experts have significantly reduced the tolerable daily intake (IDT) of bisphenol A (amount that can be ingested over a lifetime without presenting an appreciable risk to health). It goes from 4 millionths of a gram per kilogram of body weight per day to 0.2 billion millionths of a gram. The newly established IDT is nearly 20,000 times lower.
"This reassessment of the tolerable daily intake highlights society's vulnerability to the use of toxic chemical compounds", points out Ethel Eljarrat, CSIC researcher. “It took eight years to establish a tolerable daily intake 20,000 times lower than what we thought was safe. And the most worrying thing is that during all this time we have been and are exposed to levels much higher than those currently recommended", adds this expert. "That's why we can't delay any more the measures to solve the problem".
