Perhaps a new report by the federal National Toxicology Program (NTP) will temporarily stifle the activist Environmental Working Group's endless alarms about Bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical found in plastic water bottles and baby bottles, among other products.
This chemical has been safely used for decades, with not one shred of evidence linking it to any human illness, whether in adults, children, or fetuses. This has not stopped the EWG and other like-minded alarmist "environmental" groups from calling for banning it from the marketplace, based on their own slanted assessment of the studies. The American Council on Science and Health published a peer-reviewed study of BPA, confirming prior findings of no health threat to anyone from typical exposures to this substance.
Now, an expert panel, under the auspices of the NTP -- a division of the National Institutes of Health -- has confirmed our findings, which are consistent with the body of scientific research about BPA. Indeed, our paper was instrumental in persuading the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco to allow BPA to continue to be a component of children's toys earlier this year, when they ill-advisedly considered banning the substance, among others.
Naturally, the EWG claimed that the NTP panel was corrupted by industry influence and that they had "ignored a large body of...scientific research" in reaching their conclusion. If I had to guess, I'd bet that the folks who ignore scientific evidence are more likely to be found in the quarters of EWG's anti-chemical activists than among the conclaves of the NTP.
Gilbert Ross, M.D., is Executive and Medical Director of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com).
See also: ACSH's full report on The Facts About Bisphenol-A.
