The European Environment Agency calls for more protection against the overexposure of Europeans to bisphenol A

2023-09-18 12:20:39

Updated Monday, September 18, 2023 – 12:20

The agency warns that the risk posed by said chemical substance is “greater than expected”

Various plastic bottlesJUANJO MARTNEFESHealth The European Union warns that bisphenol A, which is found in packaging, poses a risk to the immune system How Bisphenol A, where is it found

The exposure of the population to bisphenol A (chemical substance used to make plastics and resins) is “higher than levels considered safe,” according to a new report from the European Environment Agency.

This has been specified by the organization in a statement in which it also warns that the risk of said chemical component “It’s bigger than expected” and calls for “more measures” to “protect” the health of Europeans.

The initiative ‘Toxic-free home’ explains that the warning has been issued following recent reports from the European Food Safety Authority and the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative.

In relation to bisphenol A, the European Environment Agency emphasizes that “The results of these investigations must be taken seriously”which warn that “there is a current health problem due to dietary exposure to BPA, especially from canned foods,” which turns out to be the “most important source of exposure for all age groups.”

In light of these results, the executive director of the EEA, Leena Yl-Mononendemands that “more measures be taken at the EU level to limit exposure to chemical substances that pose a risk to the health of Europeans”, understanding that the current regulation has not served to prevent “the exposure of the population remains too high, higher than levels considered safe.

In this context, ‘Toxic-Free Home’ points out that exposure to bisphenol A, even at very low concentrations, has been associated with negative effects on the immune system, as well as on the immune system. neurodevelopmentlow birth weight, infertility, obesity and metabolic disease, cancer risk related to hormones or cardiovascular diseases, among others

After recalling that the EFSA agreed to lower “20,000 times the limit of human exposure to bisphenol A that it considers safe.” this type, which can alter the hormonal balance of the body, A safe concentration, no matter how low, cannot be clearly established.“.

“Unfortunately,” he continues, “contrary to what the European Environment Agency is asking, the pressures of the chemical industry have managed to get the European Commission to postpone, and probably end up causing failure, the necessary and promised reform of the regulations on chemical products, the so-called Reach Regulation.

REGRETTABLE SUBSTITUTION

In parallel, the European Environment Agency also denounces the strategy of “regrettable substitution” with which the industry “replaces” BPA with “other less studied bisphenols”, but which, in his opinion, “can be just as harmful.”

In this regard, De Prada has criticized that, “when, after more than 20 years of delay, it finally seems to be officially recognized that bisphenol A entails a serious risk for many millions of people, industries have been replacing that substance with other bisphenols that can cause similar harmful effects“.

For ‘Toxic-Free Home’, this situation means that the population, “beyond the appearance of having been protected, is actually still exposed to the same or similar risks through other similar substances”, although “it could be remedied if toxic substances were evaluated and regulated by groups of substances that, like many bisphenols, are known to generate analogous effects.”