BPA Banned from Kids Food Packaging in Sweden

Use of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) has been banned in Sweden from all packaging intended to contain food and other products for children, due to concerns about the substance’s effects on the body. 

The Swedish Chemical Agency announced the BPA ban earlier this month, following a 2011 government report that indicated investigators were unable to determine the levels at which BPA exposure could be deemed safe.

The decision comes about one month after the FDA decided to take no action on the chemical’s use by the food packaging industry in the United States.

There was already a voluntary ban on BPA use in Sweden, which kept the substance out of children’s products. This month’s decision codifies it into regulation.

BPA is used to make many plastic products hard and shatterproof. Originally developed as a form of synthetic estrogen, it is used in the manufacture of many consumer products, such as bottles, cans, cups, baby bottles and other food containers.

Exposure to BPA is suspected of causing hormonal changes by impacting the human endocrine system. It has been linked to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and asthma. Some research has suggested that BPA can cause developmental abnormalities and other problems over time in infants and young children.

At the end of March, the FDA determined there was not enough data for the agency to change regulations allowing BPA in food packaging, denying a petition filed by the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) in 2008 and fulfilling a recent settlement agreement to make a decision on the petition.

The agency’s investigation determined that there is no proof that very low levels of BPA that enter the body after exposure to the products are unsafe, and only minute amounts appear to pass from mother to child during pregnancy, according to the FDA findings.

More than a dozen class action lawsuits over BPA have failed since 2008, ending in dismissal due primarily to a lack of evidence. With the FDA’s claim that it was unable to find any proof of danger in BPA exposure, there is little likelihood that more will be forthcoming.