In an article published on September 4, 2018, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) informed about its upcoming work on the safety reevaluation of the substance bisphenol A (BPA, CAS 80-05-7) that is used in food contact materials (FCMs). EFSA has formed a new working group of scientific experts under its Scientific Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP) that “will start evaluating recent toxicological data” on BPA in September 2018.

The new working group will “review data published since December 2012 – the cut-off point of EFSA’s last assessment of BPA” (FPF reported), and follow “the scientific protocol for the hazard assessment of BPA” that was developed and finalized by EFSA in 2017 (FPF reported). “The protocol is a detailed plan that transparently defines upfront the scope, methodology and information needs before an assessment starts,” EFSA explained.

The timeline for the CEP Panel to reassess the potential hazards of BPA in food and review the current temporary safe level for BPA is as follows: On October 15, 2018, the call for hazard studies and data on BPA, published since December 31, 2012, closes (deadline extended, FPF reported). In 2018-2019, the working group will test EFSA’s scientific protocol on “a representative selection of key studies from previous assessments and publish the results” in a report. In 2018-2020, the working group will reevaluate the toxicity of BPA and perform and finalize the new BPA hazard assessment.

Further, the working group will evaluate the results of the U.S. CLARITY-BPA study. The core study of CLARITY-BPA was published in February 2018 (FPF reported) and the results of the academic consortium studies on potential health effects of BPA at low doses are expected by October 2018. “EFSA is also in regular contact with the European Chemicals Agency, whose work on the identification and classification of BPA under the REACH Regulation is continuing in tandem with EFSA’s assessment,” the authority noted.

Read more

EFSA (September 4, 2018). “BPA update: Working group to start reviewing new studies.

Chemical Watch (September 12, 2018). “EFSA to begin hazard assessment of bisphenol A.

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