Your article “Low doses of common chemical have science in a quandary” (News, Dec. 26) claims that exposure to low doses of Bisphenol-A (BPA) may lead to “possible widespread health risks,” and mentions a recent scientific review by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) as the evidence for this claim. Unfortunately you failed to report the results of the most definitive research on BPA, which found no evidence of health effect at low doses, or the conclusion from the NTP review.
The NTP’s panel of experts reviewed all of the available data on low-dose exposure to BPA, including a powerful study recently completed by the highly regarded Research Triangle Institute, which was specifically designed to look for low-dose effects. This study, which was described by NTP experts as “arguably the most comprehensive of the studies we evaluated,” found no evidence for low-dose health effects from BPA. These results fully confirm earlier research conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Health Sciences, which was also reviewed by NTP’s experts.
Overall NTP’s experts concluded: “[D]ue to the inability of several different laboratories to observe low-dose effects and the consistency of these negative studies, the subpanel is not persuaded that a low-dose effect of BPA has been conclusively established as a general or reproducible finding.” The overwhelming weight of the scientific evidence confirms that consumers can continue to choose polycarbonate products with confidence in their safe use.
