Senate Bans Bisphenol A
09/10/2012 Le Figaro
Senators approved a bill to ban the food container of this chemical, suspected of causing multiple health problems, by July 1, 2015.
While an increasing number of studies confirm the health risks of bisphenol A (BPA), senators have banned this chemical in food containers by July 1, 2015. A deadline considered too short by industry , which warn against the emergency use of insufficiently tested substitutes.
Voted a year ago by deputies, the bill plans to suspend the manufacture, import and export of food containers produced with bisphenol A, starting next year for products intended for children under 3 years. The Social Affairs Committee of the Senate had proposed, for its part, to postpone for one year the extension of the global ban, initially planned for 2014, to 2015. It indeed said that it was "aware of the difficulties that this application of the precautionary principle can lead to industrialists ”. A position validated by the senators.
Deregulated hormonal system
Bisphenol A (BPA), found in most rigid plastic bottles, cans or cans, is an endocrine disruptor. "It acts like a hormonal decoy, mimicking the action of natural hormones. It usurps the identity of estrogens and activates their receptors in a somewhat anarchic way and deregulates the hormonal system in this way, "explains biologist William Bourguet (Montpellier Inserm-CNRS).
Consequences: impaired fertility and more cardiovascular problems, diabetes, breast cancer and thyroid problems. These phenomena have been observed in scientific studies in animals and are strongly suspected in humans. In 2011, a report from the Food Safety Agency (ANSES) called for replacing BPA "without delay". Before that, to protect infants deemed particularly vulnerable, France had suspended in July 2010 the sale of bisphenol A bottles.
"Impractical"
The industrialists concerned and certain researchers nevertheless invite to take the time to ensure the safety of the substitute products before completely banning bisphenol A. The former criticize a calendar "incompatible with industrial reality", which requires numerous tests and checks before new products are put on the market. "If the text is applied and voted as is, we will be forced to stop our activities, purely and simply," said Olivier Draullette, general delegate of SNFBM, the union of manufacturers of metal boxes and packaging - these products being covered with plastic film containing BPA.
"Our great concern is to market a product on which there is less perspective than those that are used, and which could be less safe than current products", argues Jean-René Buisson, the president of the 'National Association of Food Industries (Ania). Especially since "we will need several substitutes to cover the range of our products," he adds, recalling for example that a resin had caused acidity problems on tomatoes in the United States. The situation is complex since the metal packaging manufacturers have identified four families of resins that can be substituted for the current bisphenol A resin. Each must be tested according to the foodstuff with which it will be in contact.
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