BPA De-listed from Proposition 65

The battle over bisphenol A continued in California after a high-profile lawsuit led to the reversal of a recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision. A judge in a California superior court told the state's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) that it had to remove BPA from the Proposition 65 list of toxic substances just four days after it had been added to the regulation.

Judge Raymond Cadei in Sacramento County Superior Court granted a request from the American Chemistry Council for a preliminary injunction and ordered OEHHA to remove the chemical plasticizer from Prop. 65, which the agency did on April 19. Just eight days earlier on April 11, OEHHA announced that it would add BPA to the toxic chemicals list, which it did on April 15.

The court agreed with the American Chemistry Council's findings that BPA did not meet the requirements for listing under Prop. 65. Judge Cadei also agreed that the council's members, including some of the largest chemical and plastics manufacturers in the country, would be irreparably harmed if BPA were to be considered a reproductive hazard.

"We do not believe there is a scientific basis for including BPA on the Proposition 65 list and we look forward to our case being heard on the merits sometime this summer," said Steven G. Hentges, Ph.D., of the American Chemistry Council's Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group. The council has been one of the strongest voices against any regulation of BPA.

The recent removal of BPA from Prop. 65 is not the final word on the matter. Jude Cadei's preliminary injunction was given because he found that there was sufficient evidence proving that OEHHA may have added BPA to the list without scientific justification. A final decision will be reached when the case, American Chemistry Council vs. Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (PDF), is heard later this year.