BPA in the news again

Bisphenol A safety continues to make headlines. On Friday, the attorneys general from three states sent letters to 11 companies that make baby bottles and baby formula containers, asking they stop using BPA. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal criticized the Food and Drug Administration, which has taken the position that exposure to BPA is safe. "Unfortunately the federal agency, the Federal Food and Drug Administration, has been asleep at the switch, in fact resistant to respecting the scientific evidence that grave harm can result in use of this product," Blumenthal said. On Saturday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Charles Gelman, a retired medical supply manufacturer, gave $5 million to the research center of Martin Philbert, chairman of the FDA panel that is preparing to rule on BPA safety. The newspaper noted that Gelman believes BPA is "perfectly safe," and that worries about health problems from the chemical are exaggerated by "mothers' groups and others who don't know the science." The story notes that Philbert did not disclose the donation. The Journal Sentinel described Gelman, in part, as an "anti-regulation activist and an outspoken supporter of organizations including JunkScience.com, the Cato Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute that attack the credibility of government and academic scientists on such topics as global warming and hazardous chemicals." Finally, last week, researchers at the University of Cincinnati reported that exposure to BPA may reduce the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatments. The researchers, led by Nira Ben-Jonathan, said they have evidence that BPA induces a group of proteins that protect cancer cells from the toxic effects of chemotherapy. "Resistance to chemotherapy is a major problem for cancer patients, especially those with advanced or metastatic disease," she said. "These data," study authors write, "provide considerable support to the accumulating evidence that BPA is hazardous to human health."