Even if the Health Minister declares BPA toxic, that doesn’t mean it’ll be pulled from the shelves. Please read more below.
Calling a chemical toxic doesn’t get it off shelf
Tom Spears
Canwest News Service
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
OTTAWA — As speculation mounted Tuesday that Ottawa will declare under the Canadian Environment Protection Act that a chemical commonly used in plastic food and drink containers is about to be labelled officially toxic, an odd twist emerged.
The designation would not by itself force products off store shelves.
The chemical in question is bisphenol A and rumours swirled Tuesday that Health Minister Tony Clement is about to announce the result of a review of BPA begun last year.
Health Canada would not say what the minister will announce, or when.
But even if BPA were listed as “toxic” under the CEPA law, the substance could remain legal to use.
The wrinkle is the government would have the option to restrict bisphenol’s use, or not.
BPA is used to make polycarbonate, a shatter-proof plastic used in CDs, some toys, resin that lines most metal food and soft drink cans, see-through water bottles for athletes and hikers and some baby bottles. It was invented in the 1940s as a synthetic copy of the sex hormone estrogen.
Scientists have been split about health effects; chemical industry studies conclude it is harmless, while opponents say it is dangerous — most of all for fetuses and young infants — especially when heated.
The two sides base their opposing views on different lab methods involving tests on rats.
Last year, Health Canada labelled BPA a chemical “of concern to Canadians,” and started reviewing its health effects. The department wouldn’t answer calls Tuesday.
“We’ve been waiting for them to come out with their assessment,” said Kathleen Cooper of the Canadian Environmental Law Association.
“My sense of it is they’ve probably sped up their assessment of this particular one [out of a group of chemicals being evaluated] because of the high degree of interest.”
But past chemicals found to be toxic under this law are still widely used, she noted.
“The thing about calling something ‘CEPA-toxic’ is that it doesn’t get you very far until they actually follow up with activity,” she said. “And it’s been a chronic problem. Lead has been ‘CEPA-toxic’ since 1988, but that hasn’t stopped the flow of lead into thousands of consumer products ever since.
“The link between whether a chemical is considered toxic and whether we’re still finding it in all these consumer products — that’s the weak link.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2008
Here are some more news stories from Canada:
Canada Could be First to Call Bisphenol A Toxic
Ridding life of products made with chemical BPA could prove a challenge
Tags: baby bottles, Backpacker Magazine, Bisphenol-A, BPA, Canada, Canwest News Service, chemical, Science Now, The Canadian Press, toxic, Vancouver Sun, water bottles
