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117 Years of BPA
Many frames and lenses for eyeglasses are made from polycarbonate.
(Bernd Kammerer - Associated Press)
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2007
February: Congress launches an investigation after learning that Sciences International also performed work for two BPA manufacturers, Dow Chemical and BASF. Two months later, NIH fires Sciences International, but the BPA advisory panel still draws upon its work.
July 24: The National Toxicology Program finds no impropriety in Sciences International's work on BPA, but critics say the firm excluded low-dose studies from the literature it reviewed.
Aug. 2: An NIH-funded panel of 38 international experts in BPA finish a comprehensive review of current knowledge of BPA health risks and human exposures. Known as the Chapel Hill panel, the group concludes that BPA exposure at current levels presents a clear risk to human health.
Nov. 26: BPA advisory panel issues its final report, minimizing BPA risks. It expresses "some concern" about the neural and behavioral impacts but no significant concern about links to breast and prostate cancer, obesity and reproductive problems.
2008
Jan. 17 - Feb. 5: The House Committee on Energy and Commerce begins investigating the use of BPA in the lining of metal cans that contain infant formula. It also demands that the FDA clarify its position on the safety of BPA.
Feb. 7: A coalition of environmental and public health groups in the United States and Canada releases a study showing that BPA leaches out of baby bottles into heated liquids.
April 16: The National Toxicology Program raises "some concern" about possible links between BPA and cancer, diabetes, fertility problems and behavioral disorders, based on its review of the advisory panel report, the Chapel Hill panel findings and other recent studies. Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, calls on the FDA to reconsider the safety of BPA in products for infants and children.
April 18: Health Canada announces that BPA will be deemed a "dangerous substance," making Canada the first country to ban the chemical from baby products.
April 18-21: Playtex says it will stop using BPA in baby bottles and cups, Nalgene announces it will drop BPA from its bottles, and Wal-Mart and Toys R Us say they will phase out baby bottles containing BPA.
SOURCES: Environmental Working Group; Washington Post staff research
