He bisphenol A is an industrial chemical that has been used to make plastics and resins since the 1950s and is found in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. These are used in containers that store food and drinks, such as water bottles. In April, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) did a review and set 20,000 times lower thresholds on the tolerable daily intake.
However, now virtually any intake is considered “a health risk.” “The European Food Safety Authority found that any intake of this compound is a health risk. It was based on studies carried out in Argentina and other countries,” he said. Francis Lopez (MN 149549), cardiologist and director of the Rock Medical Center.
In this regard, in 2015, the agency had established a temporary tolerable daily intake of the substance, but noting that there was a lack of additional data on the toxicological effects regarding the risk of its presence in food that was in plastic containers.
The EFSA experts took into account the new scientific evidence evaluated. They set a temporary daily intake of 0.2 nanograms (2 billionths of a gram) per kilogram of body weight per day, replacing the previous temporary level of 4 micrograms (4 millionths of a gram) per kilogram of body weight per day. That is, the tolerable daily intake is approximately 20,000 times less than before.
Then, the specialists from the old continent compared the new tolerable daily intake level with estimates of consumer exposure to bisphenol A in food. They concluded that people of all age groups with medium and high exposures to the substance exceed the new tolerable daily intake, a reason for health concern.
The risks of ingesting bisphenol are not immediate nor do they necessarily translate into the development of diseases. But continuous exposure increases the risk of developing them, although exactly to what extent is not quantified. The general population of all age groups is exposed to levels that exceed hundreds or thousands of times the tolerable daily rate of bisphenol.
Before, a 70-kilo person could eat the amount of bisphenol contained in 75 cans of tuna every day. Now, with the new measure of tolerable daily intake in Europe, with a single can that is consumed, the safe level is already exceeded by 264 times.
The intake of bisphenol A has been associated with the development of obesity, diabetes, breast cancer and autism, among other diseases. Following the EFSA report, the European Commission set to work to ban the substance and will draw up a plan to action that is estimated to be released by the first quarter of 2024.
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