The Control Yuan has initiated a probe to set up more stringent criteria on bisphenol A (BPA) use in plastic containers.
Health authorities had previously done studies in 2016 to assess the risks of BPA exposure, but the EU conducted a new research last year, which identified some health concerns and led to a proposed EU-wide ban on BPA use in food packaging materials, Control Yuan members Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) and Tsai Chung-yi (蔡崇義) said last week.
A reassessment is needed to protect Taiwanese, they said.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
The industrial chemical BPA is primarily used to produce polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins for food and beverage containers, kitchen utensils, tableware, water bottles, and coating used on metal cans.
An EU study from September last year indicated harmful effects to immune and hormonal systems, as well as possible damage to the brain and prostate glands of fetuses and children that disrupts normal body growth, Tsai said.
BPA traces were found widely in human tests conducted in Europe, Tsai said.
Consumers are exposed to the dangers of BPA as it seeps into food and drink products, leading to harmful effects, Tsai said.
In 2013, the Ministrt of Health and Welfare banned BPA in infant milk bottles and set a toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) maximum level of 0.6 parts per million (ppm), Tsai said, referring to a soil sample method that is used to simulate the amount of a chemical that leaches through a landfill.
In April, the European Food Safety Authority set the tolerable daily intake — the amount of a substance in food deemed safe for people to consume — for BPA at 0.2 nanograms per kg of body weight.
The amount is 20,000 times lower than the provisional TDI of 4 micrograms per kilogram of body weight that has been adopted by EU countries as the new reference limit for food safety monitoring, Tsai said.
The EU has moved to ban BPA in bottles and drinking cups for infants and children, and to limit its TCLP level to less than 0.05 ppm for BPA found in food contact materials, Tien said.
It is necessary to ensure the Taiwanese public that government officials are following up on the latest scientific studies and risk assessments on BPA, she said.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare must take proactive efforts to set new safety levels for the human body, which is why the Control Yuan has launched a probe into this matter, she said.
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