THURSDAY October 30, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- The FDA said exposure to bisphenol A or BPA, a chemical commonly used in water bottles and infant formula containers, poses no risk.   But evidence is growing to suggest that BPA is harmful.

BPA is one of endocrine disrupting chemicals. No one can deny this.   Because it can disrupt the normal physiology, it should be no surprise that many diseases or disorders in the brain, reproductive system and immune system have been found associated with exposure to the chemical.

Like many toxic chemicals, the dose makes the difference.   The FDA insists that at current exposure levels, BPA does not pose ANY risk although the agency sounds uncertain about its own conclusion because it said more research is needed.

A new study led by Yaoi T and colleagues from Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine in Japan showed that maternal exposure to bisphenol A affects two genes on the epigenome in mouse forebrain.

The researchers suggested in their report that "epigenetic alterations in promoter-associated CGIs after exposure to BPA may underlie some effects on brain development."

The study titled Genome-wide analysis of epigenomic alterations in fetal mouse forebrain after exposure to low doses of bisphenol A appears in the Nov 21, 2008 issue of Biochem Biophys Res Commun.

This is not the only study revealing that exposure to BPA can affect the brain.  

A new report released this week by a subcommittee of the FDA Science Board said that the agency failed to assess properly the risk of BPA because it considered only the industry-funded studies that found no association between exposure to BPA and diseases and excluded those studies that found the association.

The FDA was cited by news media as saying that the agency's staff considered only the industry-funded studies because the industry-sponsored studies were better designed.

The National Toxicology Program, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, has already found early that exposure to BPA poses a risk to infants and young children.