On April 2, 2015 the advocacy group for chemical safety CHEM Trust announced it had sent a letter to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to inquire why they misrepresented the results of their risk assessment of bisphenol A (BPA, CAS 80-05-7). As CHEM Trust previously pointed out and brought to the attention of the European Commission, EFSA’s risk assessment of BPA concluded that there was a “low health concern” for consumers from aggregate exposure to BPA. However, the EFSA press release, the abstract of the Scientific Opinion and other communication materials stated that there was “no health risk” (FPF reported). Since CHEM Trust sent the letter to EFSA on March 31, 2015, they however discovered that EFSA made corrections to the abstract of the Scientific Opinion on March 25, 2015. EFSA corrected the abstract of its risk assessment to acknowledge that experts did not state that BPA aggregate exposure is of “no health concern”. In a second blog entry posted on April 2, 2015, CHEM Trust welcomes EFSA’s belated admission that they misrepresented the results of the risk assessment in the abstract. However, Michael Warhurst, Executive Director of CHEM Trust, also highlights that the incorrect press release remains on EFSA’s website, along with an incorrect briefing. According to Warhurst, EFSA needs to correct all the materials related to the risk assessment and publically announce all the changes made to avoid confusion. Finally, EFSA must establish how the abstract and other communications materials ended up misrepresenting such an important issue, Warhurst emphasizes.

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CHEM Trust (April 2, 2015). “We write to EFSA: Why did you misrepresent the results of the Risk Assessment of Bisphenol A?

CHEM Trust (April 2, 2015). “EFSA corrects its risk assessment of bisphenol A to acknowledge that experts didn’t say no health concern.

 

 

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