Maternal exposures to BPA are not transmitted to fetus: FDA study

The North American Metal Packaging Alliance, Inc. (NAMPA) applauds the publication of yet another government-funded and conducted study that provides reassuring evidence that bisphenol A (BPA) is not harmful to infants, children, or adults. The study -- Distribution of bisphenol A into tissues of adult, neonatal, and fetal Sprague-Dawley rats Doerge et al. 2011 -- shows that maternal exposures to BPA are not transmitted to the fetus.

Funded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and conducted by its National Center for Toxicological Research, the study is part of the agency's larger multi-million dollar research program on BPA. Researchers investigated the distribution of BPA in tissues of adult, neonatal, and fetal rats from oral ingestion. They found that un-metabolized or "free" BPA was undetectable in the rat fetuses at any time following maternal oral exposure of BPA. This study, in conjunction with other recent government-funded studies, provides further evidence that ingesting trace amounts of BPA from food or beverages does not pose health concerns, even for unborn infants.

"This study emphatically demonstrates that fetuses are not at risk from BPA exposure through the diet of the mother," said Dr. John M. Rost, Chairman of NAMPA. "Essentially, the mother's body so efficiently eliminates BPA from the body that the fetus is simply not exposed to the compound. This study should reassure pregnant and nursing mothers that maintaining their current diet, including canned fruits and vegetables, does not pose a health risk to them, their developing fetus, or their nursing baby."

This most recent FDA study in rats replicated results showing that the body's digestive system is able to process and eliminate BPA so efficiently that very little of the compound ever enters the blood stream. This rapid processing and removal of BPA is a critical factor in risk assessment because it means that free BPA does not distribute via the blood to other tissues in the body. Other recently published data show that the human body is far more efficient in metabolizing BPA than rats, meaning that BPA is excreted that much faster in humans.