Agency Action Plan Targets Chemical for Risks to the Environment
Washington, D.C. - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson's commitment to protecting people and the environment from harmful chemicals was on display again yesterday as the agency announced plans to scrutinize closely the potential environmental risks of bisphenol-A (BPA).
"BPA is now under investigation at both the FDA and the EPA," said Environmental Working Group's Richard Wiles, EWG's co-founder and Senior VP for Policy and Communications. "It's a clear indication that this notorious and ubiquitous toxic chemical, found in virtually everyone's body, has top officials in the Obama administration concerned."
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found BPA present in the urine of 93 percent of all Americans over the age of six. A groundbreaking report released late last year by EWG discovered the plastics chemical in 9 of 10 umbilical cord blood samples the group tested, providing for the first time irrefutable evidence that babies in North America are being exposed to the synthetic endocrine disruptor before birth. http://www.ewg.org/minoritycordblood/home
"The rap sheet of serious health problems this chemical is associated with reads like the public health version of the FBI's Most Wanted list," added Wiles. "Breast cancer, diabetes, infertility, neurological disorders, prostate cancer, early puberty, obesity and heart disease, to name just a few. EPA's decision to put BPA under the microscope is yet another blow to the chemical industry and a good step forward for public health."
Environmental Working Group has compiled a BPA timeline from its creation in 1891 up to yesterday's announcement by EPA. http://www.ewg.org/reports/bpatimeline
