On February 16, 2022, the International Pollution Elimination Network (IPEN), a group of civil society organizations, reported bisphenol A (BPA, CAS 80-07-4) was present in 78% of tested plastic bottles and children’s cups collected from eight countries. Samples were collected by local civil society organizations from markets in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania. Sixty percent of the products labeled BPA-free were found to contain BPA. One of the Malaysian samples violates local law while two bottles produced in India and exceed Indian limits were on the market in Bhutan.
According to IPEN, all other samples that leached measurable levels of BPA “are at this point legal, as they either do not exceed the threshold concentrations set by the legislation, or do not fall into a product category covered by national/regional legislations, or no legislation concerning BPA exists in that country/region.”
Sri Lankan newspaper The Morning reported on February 21, 2022, that in response to IPEN’s report, “Environment Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe said that the ministry hopes to look into concerns that have been raised about bisphenol A.”
BPA is an endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) that interacts with estrogen receptors in the human body. Even low exposure to BPA has been linked to cancer, fat cell generation, and changes to the reproductive, nervous, and other bodily systems (FPF reported, also here and here). In December 2021, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) proposed to decrease what is considered a safe daily exposure to BPA by a factor of 100,000 (FPF reported). Other bisphenols used to commonly replace BPA in food packaging, such as bisphenol S (BPS, CAS 80-09-1) and bisphenol F (BPF, 620-92-8) have also been linked to negative health outcomes including childhood obesity (FPF reported), leading some organizations like IPEN to call for bisphenols to be regulated as a group.
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Jitka Straková, et al. (February 2022). “A call to action: Free children from BPA’s toxic legacy.” International Pollution Elimination Network
Pamodi Waravita (February 21, 2022). “Environment Ministry to probe babies’ feeding bottles concerns.” The Morning
Ifham Nizam (February 16, 2022). “Harmful BPA found in baby bottles, cups.” The Island Online
