Would you believe me if I told you that the final report on bisphenol A had been released? After nearly two decades of studies from various groups trying to prove that BPA is either causing or not causing problems in humans, the results released last week reaffirm that BPA is safe in plastic consumer products.

This landmark clear core of research from the National Toxicology Program (NTP) is the final part of a multi-year in-depth research project, and the results strongly support "the recent statement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). — Bpa is safe for humans at very low exposure levels." Steven G. Hentges, Ph.D., PC/BPA Global Group, American Chemistry Council, commented, "The scope and size of this study is unprecedented for BPA, and the results clearly show that the health effects are minimal even if people are exposed to BPA throughout their lives."

The report provides the full results of a multi-million dollar study that took more than five years and was conducted by scientists at the FDA's National Toxicology Research Center. As the FDA's lead investigator put it, "The investigator's judgment of the results was that BPA did not produce A demonstrable, biologically credible adverse effect, even at levels of exposure to typical consumers." The draft report was peer-reviewed by a panel of independent scientists who endorsed the design and execution of the study and the FDA's interpretation of the results. The study is also expected to be published in the scientific literature early next year.

The American Chemistry Council notes that earlier studies from the FDA's research program have shown that BPA is quickly cleared from the body after exposure and therefore is unlikely to cause health effects. "The CLARITY Core study strongly confirms that at typical human exposure levels, there are no health effects." In the study, animals in the lab were exposed to different doses of BPA starting when they were pregnant, beginning when they were young and continuing throughout their lives. These results confirm the findings of previous safety assessments and validate the FDA's conclusions.

But don't expect this to really be the final word in the decades-long debate over the safety of BPA. Those who don't believe this study, and all previous studies that have been done, will continue to find "evidence" that BPA is harmful to humans. It really depends on the bias of the researcher. If researchers are looking for evidence that BPA is harmful, their study will find evidence to support that idea.

The plastics industry should trust the FDA's U.S. National Toxicology Program to be impartial, objective, and to gain nothing from its findings.

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