Antidote Europe today condemned AFSSA for being unclear in its recently published update on the chemical. The food safety watchdog said last week it was unable to accept conclusions from dozens of studies on laboratory animals that had raised health concerns about the substance because of their flawed methodology. However, scientists from the agency admitted there were “warning signs” about BPA.
The body called for more direct research on the effect of the chemical on humans and issued guidance on how to minimise exposure to the chemical, which is used in the manufacture of polycarbonate bottles and the epoxy linings of food cans.
But AFSSA’a approach was criticised by the France-based NGO.
“Mice and rats respond differently to bisphenol A and even different strains of rats provide contradictory results, so what is the point of studying animals, when the answer is staring us in the face?” said Dr Claude Reiss, president of Antidote Europe. "Unlike animal tests, the human data is unequivocal. Recent human population studies, as well as human cell studies have shown that bisphenol A can negatively affect human fertility, among other health problems”.