After the European Parliament showed interest in banning BPA (Bisphenol A) in 2023, and member states voted in favour the following year, it was finally banned in December.
The chemical will not be allowed in materials that come into contact with food and drink, including reusable plastic drinks bottles, water distribution coolers, and the coatings on metal cans.
For most products, an 18-month phase-out period will be allowed. BPA will remain only in very limited circumstances, where no alternatives exist. This will give the food industry time to make the necessary changes and avoid supply chain disruption.
The ban also included other bisphenols that have the potential to harm the reproductive and endocrine systems.
Why is the chemical controversial?
BPA is a chemical used to make plastics and resins. It is often found in food contact materials, including bottles and cans.
The idea of banning BPA is not new. It is already banned in some European countries, such as France and Denmark, and for infant bottles and similar products across the EU.
Key to the controversy surrounding it are two main elements: the negative health affects that have been linked to it, and its ability to migrate from food contact materials into food and drink itself.
It has been linked to a number of negative health affects, including eye damage and allergic skin reactions, as well as reduced fertility and endocrine disruption (which alters how hormones function). It is classed as a hazardous chemical by the European Chemical Agency (ECHA)
A 2023 re-evaluation of BPA by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) suggested that dietary exposure to BPA is a health concern for people of all age groups. Specifically, it could damage the immune system. This resulted in EFSA lowering the ‘tolerable intake’ of BPA from 4 micrograms, the limit set in 2015, to 0.2 nanograms per kilogram of body weight per day. This is around 20,000 times lower.
Later the European Environmental Agency (EEA) found that BPA was present at an unacceptably high level in humans.
Its ability to migrate from packaging into food means that it can make its way into food itself, therefore heightening consumer exposure.
Why was it banned?
The links to poor health effects of BPA are behind the commission’s decision to ban the chemical. The commission’s website points to its “potentially harmful health impact.”
One of the key pieces of research was EFSA’s.
“EFSA’s scientific advice supports the decision-making of the European Commission and EU Member States, who are responsible for setting limits on the amount of a chemical that may migrate from food packaging into food or introducing other specific restrictions to protect consumers,” explains a spokesperson for the EFSA.
