EU Court confirms BPA as substance of “very high concern”

17 Jul 2019 --- A decision by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to flag bisphenol A (BPA) – a chemical used to make plastics – as harmful has been upheld by the General Court of the EU, despite refutation from industry lobby group, PlasticsEurope. The move means that BPA must be listed as a substance of “very high concern” on account of its properties that are toxic for human reproduction. BPA, is already banned in the EU for some products – such as baby bottles – due to concerns about its effects on the hormonal and reproductive system.

BPA is an industrial chemical that has been used to make certain plastics and resins, often used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic products such as water bottles, food containers and receipts. The compound is also found in epoxy resins used to coat the inside of metal products, such as food cans, bottle tops and water supply lines. In addition, some dental sealants and composites contain BPA.

Non-profit environmental law organization ClientEarth intervened before the Court to support ECHA’s decision to officially identify BPA as a substance toxic for reproduction, and therefore of high concern. The move means that BPA must be listed as a substance of “very high concern” on account of its properties. 

“This case was about industry lobby group PlasticsEurope attempting to fight the obligation of its members that sell or use BPA to tell their supply chain and consumers about its dangers. We are glad that the Court reminded them that information is a precondition to environmental and health protection, even for substances like BPA, that are used and supposed to be fully consumed in the production process,” highlights Apolline Roger, Legal and Policy Advisor of Client Earth. 

“ECHA was right when it placed BPA on the ‘candidate list’ of substances of very high concern under REACH for its toxic for reproduction properties. It also decided that the properties of BPA as an endocrine disruptor for health and for the environment should be reason of its identification as a substance of ‘very high concern.’ PlasticsEurope challenged those two decisions as well,” she tells PackagingInsights.

PlasticsEurope issued a statement in response to the Court'sCourts decision, which largely reiterates its original arguments that were rejected. The statement says that the listing of BPA is “disproportionate,” as BPA is “mainly an intermediate, which is exempted from Authorisation under REACH.”

“We already note that the Court’s conclusion is in clear contradiction to the express provisions of the REACH Regulation, it misapplies and misinterprets the concept of “intermediates” – which, as argued, are substances and not mere “uses” of a substance, and it wrongly considers that the Candidate Listing has an end in itself [information sharing] instead of being a first step towards Authorization,” the statement reads.

The Court will release its decision on the first case in September and the hearing for the third case will happen this fall.

Is BPA banned?
Roger explains that  BPA’s spot on the “candidate list” does not mean it is automatically banned.

“It means that companies selling or using the substances have to provide information to their supply chain on the properties of the substance and on how to use it safely, and have to provide information upon request to the consumers under Article 33 REACH [if the substance is in the product in a concentration above 0.1 percent weight by weight],” she explains.

However, just because a product is touted as BPA-freetouts itself is being BPA-free, does not mean that it will be devoid of all harmful substances used in its absence, Roger says. “BPA has a lot of cousins, and compaBPA is an industrial chemical that has been used to make certain plastics and resins.nies have substituted it with BPS, BPF or other bisphenols with the same properties: this is why the EU needs to act to control the entire bisphenol family, to avoid regrettable substitution.”

BPA has been on the receiving end of bad press for some time. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned BPA in baby bottles in 2012 and prohibited it in infant formula packaging in 2013. The EU also implemented a ban on BPA use in baby bottles. The EU further banned the use of BPA in thermal paper (receipts) in 2016. The restriction concerns thermal paper containing BPA in a concentration equal to or above 0.02 percent by weight. 

Numerous studies have investigated the impact of BPA on health. A study linked low dose exposure from BPA with a threefold increase in combined benign breast tumors and breast cancer in lab rats in 2018. The two-year study, a research collaboration called CLARITY-BPA, was coordinated by the interagency National Toxicology Program (NTP), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the FDA, with a goal of studying the range of potential health effects from BPA exposure. In addition to the links to breast cancer, the researchers also found significant effects on the heart and reproductive system.

Last year, a study published in Experimental Biology and Medicine found that dietary exposure to BPA can worsen the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD). IBD can be further exacerbated by the hormone estrogen, and BPA is a known synthetic estrogen. 

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals have also been flagged as potentially harmful to human health when used in takeout food packaging. A study by Safer Chemicals Healthy Families and Toxic-Free Future, published in December, identified the chemicals in food packaging from several US grocery stores. Its findings led Whole Foods to remove all the packages cited in the report, as five of the 17 materials from the supermarket tested positive for the chemical. The chemicals have long been associated with a variety of ill-health effects, such as pre-eclampsia, liver damage, increased risk of thyroid disease, decreased antibody response to vaccines and an increased risk of developing asthma. 

By Laxmi Haigh