On May 12, 2020, the non-governmental organization ChemTrust published an article emphasizing the necessity for a group restriction on bisphenols to prevent regrettable substitutions. In 2018, the organization published a report examining the substitution of the endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) bisphenol A (BPA; CAS 80-05-07) in many applications with other bisphenols, often with bisphenol S (BPS; CAS 80-09-1) (FPF reported). Following a recent EU-wide ban on BPA in thermal paper in January 2020, a survey from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) also found that BPA has been substituted with other bisphenols. Recent biomonitoring studies further confirmed this. ChemTrust sees this as a disturbing trend of regrettable substitution, and the article references a report by the German Environment Agency (UBA) identifying that almost all of a set of tested BPA alternatives could have endocrine disrupting properties (FPF reported).
Country-specific initiatives and regulations on other bisphenols have also led to the identification and recognition of adverse hazardous. Belgian authorities have submitted a proposal to classify BPS as a presumed human reproductive toxicant, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) found that bisphenol B (BPB; CAS 77-40-7) is an EDC, the Swedish Institute of Environmental Medicine found that bisphenol AF (BPAF; CAS 1478-61-1) shows endocrine disrupting properties, and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is re-evaluating BPA and discussing new toxicity testing results for BPS. A collection of recently published peer-reviewed scientific research on the toxicity of various bisphenols is also provided in the article.
Michael Warhurst, the executive director of ChemTrust, commented that “over the last two years new scientific findings continue to back up our 2018 Toxic Soup report which concluded that bisphenol alternatives to BPA also have similar impacts on human health and should be phased out. We need rapid action to restrict the bisphenols as a group, as the evidence shows that BPA is being replaced, in consumer products, with other problematic bisphenols.”
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Pia Juul Nielsen (May 12, 2020). “Why a group restriction of the bisphenols is long overdue.” CHEMTrust
