Biomonitoring studies should be used by regulatory agencies to assess human exposure levels and safety of bisphenol A.
BACKGROUND
Within the past 3 years, four major evaluations of bisphenol A (BPA) safety have been undertaken. However, these assessments have arrived at quite different conclusions regarding the safety of BPA at current human exposure levels.


OBJECTIVE
We compared the reasons provided by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) BPA risk assessment panel for their conclusion that human exposures are negligible with the conclusions reached by the other panels, with all panels having the same body of literature at their disposal.


CONCLUSIONS
The EFSA panel dismissed > or = 80 biomonitoring studies that documented significant levels of BPA exposure in humans, including internal exposures to unconjugated BPA, on the basis that they did not match a model of BPA metabolism. Instead, the EFSA panel relied on two toxicokinetic studies-conducted in 15 adults administered BPA-to draw conclusions about exposure levels in the population, including exposures of neonates.


CONCLUSIONS
As with all exposure assessments, models should be developed to explain actual data that are collected. In the case of BPA, samples from a large number of human subjects clearly indicate that humans are internally exposed to unconjugated BPA. The dismissal of these biomonitoring studies simply because their results do not conform to a model violates scientific principles. Expert panels should evaluate all data-including human biomonitoring studies-to make informed risk assessments.
Vandenberg
Laura N
LN
Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA. laura.vandenberg@tufts.edu
Chahoud
Ibrahim
I
Padmanabhan
Vasantha
V
Paumgartten
Francisco J R
FJ
Schoenfelder
Gilbert
G
D001559:Benzhydryl Compounds; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D005060:Europe; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006077:Government Agencies; D006801:Humans; D010636:Phenols / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D018570:Risk Assessment; D000098826:Bisphenol A Compounds
D001559:Benzhydryl Compounds; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D010636:Phenols; C006780:bisphenol A; D000098826:Bisphenol A Compounds
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