On July 10, 2014, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced a bill (S. 2572) to ban the use of Bis-phenol A (BPA) in food packaging. The bill was also introduced in the House of Representatives (H.R. 5033) by Reps. Lois Capps (D-CA) and Grace Meng (D-NY).
According to a press release issued by the bill’s co-sponsors:
The Ban Poisonous Additives Act … would remove BPA from food packaging, encourage the development of safer alternatives, and ensure a thorough safety review of all substances currently used in food and beverage containers. The bill also would require the Food and Drug Administration to examine the effects of BPA on workers who may have been disproportionately exposed to BPA during the manufacturing process.
In terms of food packaging applications, BPA is primarily used in the production of polycarbonate (21 C.F.R. § 177.1580(a)) and as a component of epoxy can coatings (21 C.F.R. § 175.300(b)(3)(vii)). FDA repealed approval for the use of polycarbonate resin in the production of baby bottles and “sippy cups” in 2012, in response to a petition from the American Chemistry Council.
The full text of the bill is not yet publicly available. We will update this post as soon as the text is published.
