Two separate regulator studies on the health impact of bisphenol-A (BPA) came to completely different conclusions. The real story is "how?"

Fast Company decided to investigate how the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could find BPA harmless while the National Toxicology Program (NTP) reported having ""some concern" that BPA harms the human brain and reproductive system, especially in babies and fetuses".

Firstly, this is why you should care about BPA.

1. It is in broad use. Some 90% of Americans have traces of BPA in their bodies. "Some 7 billion pounds of it were produced in 2007. It's in adhesives, dental fillings, and the linings of food and drink cans. It's a building block for polycarbonate, a near-shatterproof plastic used in cell phones, computers, eyeglasses, drinking bottles, medical devices, and CDs and DVDs. It's also in infant-formula cans and many clear plastic baby bottles. Studies have shown that it can leach into food and drink, especially when containers are heated or damaged. More than 90% of Americans have some in their bodies."

2. Lets articulate a little more precisely what these health concerns are: "Babies -- particularly those fed canned formula via polycarbonate bottles -- are at the highest risk from BPA; their undeveloped digestive systems metabolize it poorly. It's also undisputed that BPA mimics the female sex hormone estrogen, and that some synthetic estrogens can cause infertility and cancer."

Most stunning fact in the Fast Company report: "Of the more than 100 independently funded experiments on BPA, about 90% have found evidence of adverse health effects at levels similar to human exposure. On the other hand, every single industry-funded study ever conducted -- 14 in all -- has found no such effects.

It is the industry-funded studies that have held sway among regulators. This is thanks largely to a small group of "product defense" consultants -- also funded by the chemical industry -- who have worked to sow doubt about negative effects of BPA by using a playbook that borrows from the wars over tobacco, asbestos, and other public-health controversies. A secretive Beltway public-relations consultant. A government contractor funded by the industries it was hired to assess. A Harvard research center with a history of conflicts of interest. These have been the key actors in how the science of BPA has been interpreted by the government. And it is their work, as much as the science itself, that has stymied regulation."

Who are the industry players in question? Again, from the report: "Just five companies make BPA in the United States: Bayer, Dow, Hexion Specialty Chemicals, SABIC Innovative Plastics (formerly GE Plastics), and Sunoco. Together, they bring in more than $6 billion a year from the compound."

The report is a comprehensive and thorough analysis of how chemical industry lobbyists are using tobacco industry strategies to stifle the scientific truth about a hazardous chemical. A necessary read.

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