Bisphenol A: Occurrence in Food and the Risk to Health

Polycarbonate plastics containing BPA have many food and non-food applications. The former include food and drink packaging, water bottles and other food and liquid containers, tableware, microwave ovenware and cookware. They were formerly used in infant bottles but now banned in polycarbonate drinking cups or bottles specifically intended for infants and young children, up to three years of age⁴. Polycarbonate non-food applications include impact resistant safety equipment and medical devices. Epoxy resins containing BPA are used as protective lacquers to coat metal products such as food cans, and bottle tops. The current migration limit is 0.05 mg/kg⁴ except that no migration of BPA shall be permitted (to a detection limit of 0.01 mg/kg) from varnishes or coatings applied to materials and articles specifically intended to come into contact with infant formula, follow-on formula, processed cereal-based food, baby food, food for special medical purposes developed to satisfy the nutritional requirements of infants and young children or milk-based drinks and similar products specifically intended for young children, as referred to in Regulation (EU) No 609/2013. There have been moves to ban it⁵). Water supply pipes, some dental sealants and composites may also contribute to BPA exposure. It is generally accepted that the main dietary contributor of BPA is canned food, accounting for about 50% of the total exposure. Of the non-canned foods examined, meat, fish and products made from meat or fish were the more important sources of BPA.

BPA is considered an endocrine disrupting compound (EDC), defined as an exogenous substance that impacts endocrine function and leads to adverse effects. EDCs can affect the synthesis, secretion, transport, activity and elimination of hormones responsible for the regulation of functions such as reproduction (including embryonic and gonad development), growth, metabolism and behaviour. Endocrine disruption is sometimes also linked to cancer.

The 2015 EFSA Opinion highlighted an incomplete understanding of the effects of BPA on various toxicological outcomes, including effects on the reproductive, mammary gland, neurobehavioural, immune and metabolic systems¹⁰. The US Consortium Linking Academic and Regulatory Insights on BPA Toxicity run by the NTP (NTP-CLARITY) is carrying out a two-year study that is expected to address most of the remaining uncertainties. Meanwhile, in expectation of the NTP-CLARITY report, EFSA has prepared a Bisphenol A Hazard Assessment Protocol¹¹, which sets out the methodology to be used for updating its hazard assessment once the new findings become available. In addition, the proposed assessment will consider studies concluded post 2013 that were not considered in the 2015 EFSA Opinion.

In more detail, the EFSA re-evaluation of BPA published in 2023 found it unlikely to very unlikely that BPA presents a genotoxic hazard through a direct mechanism. However, the immune system was identified as most sensitive to BPA exposure, with a critical cellular effect on immune mechanisms and the development of inflammatory conditions, including autoimmunity and lung inflammation. A TDI of 0.2 ng BPA/kg bw per day was established. Comparison of this TDI with the dietary exposure estimates from the 2015 EFSA opinion showed that both the mean and the 95th percentile dietary exposures in all age groups exceeded the TDI by two to three orders of magnitude. Even considering the uncertainty in the exposure assessment, the exceedance being so large, the CEP Panel concluded that there is a health concern from dietary BPA exposure⁷.

Commission Regulation No. 2018/213¹² restricts the use of BPA in food contact materials. It lowers the regulatory limit i.e. the specific migration limit (SML), which is the amount allowed to migrate from the plastic material into food while keeping it safe and extends this restriction to coating materials that are used to line food and drink cans. As a precautionary measure, the Regulation also extends the ban from 2011 on the use of BPA in baby bottles by prohibiting its use in the manufacture of infant 'sippy' cups, as well as the migration of BPA from coated materials containing food intended for infants and children up to 3 years old. The international regulation of BPA is not harmonised with some countries, notably France and Sweden, restricting BPA beyond EFSA’s recommendations.