Statement

University of Illinois Study Has Little Relevance to Human Health

ARLINGTON, VA (JULY 8, 2009)  -- The American Chemistry Council (ACC) offers the following comments in response to queries regarding the University of Illinois study led by veterinary biosciences professor Jodi Flaws. The study will be presented on July 19 at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Reproduction.  Quotes may be attributed to Steven G. Hentges, Ph.D. of the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group.

“ACC and its member companies have long-supported research and data collection that advance scientific understanding about chemicals.  To best promote public health, that research and data should be transparent, meaningful and subjected to peer review. 

“The University of Illinois study examines bisphenol A (BPA) only in a cell culture, not in whole animals.  Cell cultures have no capability to metabolize and eliminate BPA, a process that occurs very efficiently when people are exposed to BPA.  Contrary to the researcher’s speculation that BPA might cause effects on fertility, multiple studies on laboratory animals have found no effects on fertility at doses more than one million times higher than typical human exposure.

“In addition, the levels of BPA tested in the cell cultures are vastly greater than current low levels of exposure from all sources, based on data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.  Due to these factors, the study has very limited relevance to human health, and it is misleading for the data to be presented as if it were ‘evidence’ of health risks.

“Results from unpublished research are difficult to assess for significance to human health, since they have not been peer-reviewed or published in the scientific literature and few details are available in conference abstracts.  Bypassing the scientific process in favor of a sensational press release is a scare tactic that does not promote public health.  A recent survey of more than 1,000 professional toxicologists found that nine out of 10 believe research findings should be peer-reviewed before being released to the press.  The survey was conducted for Statistical Assessment Service and Center for Health and Risk Communication at George Mason University and is available at http://stats.org/.”

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