REVscene Automotive Forum - Health Canada surveys canned drinks, finds low levels of bisphenol A

Anne-Marie Tobin, THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - The chemical bisphenol A, already banned from baby bottles, has been detected in samples of almost every canned drink product tested by Health Canada.

The beverage industry says an adult would have to consume about 7,400 cans of pop a day to approach the tolerable intake levels set by Health Canada, but an environmental watchdog group wonders why the chemical, also known as BPA, has to be in the cans at all.

Studies done in animals show the chemical acts like the female hormone estrogen, and has been linked to cancer and infertility.

BPA can migrate from the plastic linings of cans. The plastic coating protects the food from direct contact with metal.

In the Health Canada survey, the highest level was registered in Rockstar Energy Drink at 4.5 parts per billion. At that level, an adult would have to consume more than 900 cans in one day before approaching the tolerable daily intake level set by Health Canada, according to the report.

The average BPA level that was detected in all the products tested was around 0.5 parts per billion, said Samuel Godefroy, director of the bureau of chemical safety in the food directorate of Health Canada.

"The results of the study were extremely reassuring in that they have confirmed previous assessments conducted by Health Canada - that exposure to bisphenol A in food packaging application, and in this specific case, from soft drinks or from canned drinks, is actually not conducive to any human health concern," Godefroy said Thursday in Ottawa.

He said there's no cause for alarm.

The samples of 72 canned drink products were collected from stores in Ottawa in April 2007 for testing. All the products were carbonated except for four tea drink products, and they covered a wide range of drinks: diet, non-diet, fruit-flavoured, energy drinks and other varieties.

For each drink product, two subsamples were analyzed and the scientists reported the average amount of BPA found in the two samples.

The tests were extremely sensitive, and BPA was detected in almost all drink products except for two tonic waters and one energy drink. Concentrations were "generally low," the report said, and this explains why BPA has not frequently been reported previously in the scientific literature.

Variations in BPA levels among the various drinks could be due to differences in can coatings or can sterilization conditions (temperature and duration) used by different companies, the report said. Accidental exposure to heat could also increase the migration of BPA from the plastic lining of the can into the beverage.

The tolerable intake level is 25 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day - which is considered among the most conservative levels in the world, according to Godefroy.

"This study actually confirms the safety of the packaging we use," said Justin Sherwood, president of Refreshments Canada, which represents the beverage industry.

"Health Canada, as well as many other regulatory agencies around the world - including the European Union Food Safety Authority, the FDA, Japanese government - have looked at BPA and established a safety threshold, what a person can consume in a day."

"And so we take our cue from them, and we work with them to make sure our products meet or exceed all of the regulatory requirements."

But Rick Smith of the lobbying group Environmental Defence said the results are cause for concern, and believes BPA should be eliminated from food containers.

"The levels found in these soft drink containers approach those levels that caused concern enough at the federal level that baby bottles (containing BPA) were banned."

He noted that the chemical industry pumps out billions of tonnes of bisphenol A each year and it's "ubiquitous" in our daily lives.

"It is so common now that it's at measurable levels in lakes and rivers. So if soft drinks, if the lining of soft drink cans were the only source in our daily lives, there wouldn't be as much cause for concern."

The study of canned drinks is just one of several research projects being conducted on bisphenol A.

There are no plans to study canned beer, Godefroy said, because "the assumption that is made is that the can lining that is followed for beer cans is somewhat similar, if not identical."

Testing has been completed on liquid infant formula and powdered formula, he said, and baby food studies are nearing completion.

Brian McCarry, a professor of chemistry at McMaster University, said that removal of the polymer plastic lining in cans would cause food and drinks to acquire a "tinny" taste. Another approach would be to find an alternative plastic without BPA, he noted.

But he said he thinks Health Canada's current guidelines are "pretty cautious."

"I'm personally not all that worried about it. I'm more worried about lots of other exposures than the bisphenol A."