Early History

• Bisphenol A was first developed in 1891 but saw little use until the 1930s when it was used as a synthetic estrogen product. Use of Bisphenol A slowed with the discovery of DES, a more potent artificial estrogen, later found to cause reproductive cancer in the children of mothers who took it. In the 1940s and 1950s, scientists discovered that Bisphenol A, when combined with the gas phosgene, helped create a clear, hard plastic called polycarbonate. This material was used in eyeglasses, baby bottles, shatter-resistant lights and many other applications.
  
  

Regulation

• According to the Environmental Working Group, the first toxic substance regulation laws didn't apply to BPA because it was presumed to be safe after no evaluation, along with many other chemicals. In 1982, the National Toxicology Program found that lab animals suffered adverse effects at 1,000 parts per million. This number became the basis for the EPA's safety guidelines in 1988, despite the fact that several studies published during the 1980s found problems at much lower doses.
  
  

Concern

• In 1996, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made its first assessment of American BPA exposure, and determined existing levels to be safe. Just a year later, however, a University of Missouri-Columbia study showed that low level BPA exposure caused prostate problems. Other problems linked to BPA in the next few years included early puberty, breast damage and behavioral issues. Also in 1997, the FDA discovered Bisphenol A contamination in canned infant formula. Two years later, the chemical was shown to leach into formula from baby bottles.
  
  

Government Evaluation

• In 2003, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) nominated BPA to be evaluated as a risk to human reproduction. This evaluation reported in 2006 that Bisphenol A was safe, but many people had concerns over the way it was performed, citing bias in the advisory panels and errors in interpretation. In 2007, the NIH fired the industry contractor hired to perform this evaluation over concerns of conflict of interest but retained the report prepared by the contractor, resulting in an assessment which may contain errors.
  
  

Considerations

• Due to concerns over BPA's safety, major retailers such, as Wal-Mart, have voluntarily removed products containing BPA from their shelves. Other countries, including Canada, declared the chemical to be a dangerous substance and have restricted its use in products for infants. Individual U.S. states and communities also passed laws to ban or restrict the use of this chemical, including Connecticut, New York's Suffolk County and the City of Chicago.