"Over 5 decades of research and extensive use in the whole world demonstrate that Polycarbonate is safe for its intended uses."

Gustav Felix

Director General of Watercoolers Europe

May 3, 2013

"WE has made clear the industry’s concerns within the Food Contact Material Experts Group as well as in meetings with the EU Commission and needs to make sure that EU Member States will initiate infringement procedures against France and other countries which have gone beyond the existing EU regulations with their BPA bans."

Everyone knows that the water cooler is the best place to overhear news, gossip and views. So in this ‘Over-heard’ column, Phillipa Atkinson-Clow (PAC) chatted to Gustav Felix, Director General of Watercoolers Europe (WE) about the thorny issue of BPA whereby plastics which may contain it e.g. polycarbonate are potentially subject to restricted use in some countries.

  • PAC

    For anyone new to the industry, could you please explain what Bisphenol A (BPA) is and why it is used.

  • Gustav Felix

    Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical that is mainly used in combination with other chemicals in the manufacture plastics and resins. Well known examples in our industry are the 18,9 Litter PC (Polycarbonate) bottles, also called 5-Gallon bottles. Residues of BPA have also been found present in epoxy resins used as protective coatings and linings in food and beverage cans.

  • PAC

    Why is BPA used in plastics like Polycarbonates?

  • Gustav Felix

    BPA as a chemical intermediate is not an additive or a softener, but an essential building block to make polycarbonate a hard and transparent plastic material. Polycarbonate is generally used where durability, safety and hygiene are of special importance. Polycarbonate is also a light-weight, high-performance plastic with a unique balance of toughness, optical clarity, high heat resistance, and excellent electrical resistance. Besides in PC bottles it is used in a large number of household items, CD´s and DVDs, ski goggles, safety helmets, automotive parts, or large transparent roofs in stadiums and other buildings.

  • PAC

    How is it that there are seemingly so many differences of opinion regarding the effects or potential effects of BPA?

  • Gustav Felix

    Over 5 decades of research and extensive use in the whole world demonstrate that Polycarbonate is safe for its intended uses. International authorities responsible for food safety, e.g. in Europe the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), have assessed and approved BPA and BPA-based materials for use in food contact applications. The studies claiming to have seen negative health effects are very few and are of an exploratory nature. They often use artificial exposure routes, such as injecting BPA into certain areas of the body.

  • PAC

    The French are trying to restrict the sale of products containing BPA and possibly disallowing the sale of product packaging that contains BPA. Will this have an impact on the UK at all?

  • Gustav Felix

    The FCMAT (Food Contact Material Experts Group), to which I also belong as a representative of the water cooler industry, is concentrating its efforts to stop the initiative of the French Government to the ban BPA in food contact materials. Yes, such a ban might not only affect the UK food exports to France but can also become part of the UK legislation if recognized by the European Commission. However, the UK Government reacted against French initiative and has submitted a detailed opinion to the EU Commission.

  • PAC

    Why are the French government enforcing an EU legislation on BPA?

  • Gustav Felix

    The French legal proposal is based on a study undertaken by ANSES (The French Food Safety Agency) as a review of some scientific literature on BPA published before 2011. However, ANSES’s assessment is generally based on subcutaneous injection and not on oral exposure routes which is, as we all know the realistic case for food consumption. It is very unlikely that somebody will go to a doctor to have himself injected with BPA.

  • PAC

    What is the view of the European Food Safety Agency EFSA, the US Food and Drug Administration FDA and other regulatory bodies on this issue?

  • Gustav Felix

    In July 2008, EFSA reconfirmed its long-standing position that BPA-based polycarbonate and epoxy food contact products are safe for their intended use for all age groups, including foetuses and new-borns. In June 2009, as a response to recently published studies on BPA, EFSA reconfirmed its previous position on BPA: “None of the studies which have so far been published have brought into question EFSA’s previous findings on BPA.” In its re-assessment EFSA explicitly took into account recent data and reviews by other authorities, such as the US NTP, Health Canada, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety. In December 2011 EFSA re-advised the safety of Bisphenol-A based on a full Risk Assessment. However, under the pressure of ANSES, EFSA agreed to work on a new scientific re-assessment to become available in May 2013, which has now been delayed until the end of 2013. The UK Food Safety Authority (FSA) already stated in 2009; “We do not consider that UK consumers are exposed to levels of BPA that would be considered a danger”. Replying to an inquiry from the UK House of Lords, the UK Department of Health confirmed that there is no need to press for tighter controls on the use of BPA or for a ban on its use. In its assessment the US Food and drug Administration confirmed the consensus among regulatory agencies in United States, Canada, Europe and Japan that the current exposure to BPA through food packaging does not pose an immediate health risk to the general population, including infants and babies.

  • PAC

    What can be expected as support from the EU Commission?

  • Gustav Felix

    The EU Commission advised the Member States to postpone any further steps to ban BPA until May 2013 when the EFSA statement was expected. To everybody’s concern the French authorities did not respect this advice and has continued with the legislation. The entire plastics and food packaging industry is deeply concerned at these developments which disregard existing EU rules for food contact materials and devalue the current criteria and processes of EU risk assessment. The national bans are being adopted and implemented even before EFSA performs its full re-assessment of the safety of BPA. In addition, work on safe and suitable alternatives to BPA has not reached a sufficient stage. For the vast majority of products, there are currently no adequate alternative materials available, which are sufficiently tested, shelf-life-proven, and matching BPA’s performance characteristics.

  • PAC

    WE has worked long and hard to explain the facts to regulators. What is your view about what should happen next?

  • Gustav Felix

    Immediately after Oct 12, 2011, the date when the French National Assembly voted the “Preposition de Loi n° 3584”, WE Management took the strategic decision to join the Experts Group of FDE (Food Drink Europe) and invest man power and financial resources in working with both international and European regulators. Our French Association AFIFAE was taking the “battle” at the national level. Regarding further steps, WE and our colleagues from the Experts Group are very much aware that to block the French initiative could be only done through European regulators. The Member States also play a major role in the EU decision since the Member States need to express to the EU their clear position on BPA. Unfortunately, only a few Member States have done so up to now and WE and the industry group need to continue their lobby work.

  • PAC

    If in the end there is a restriction on the use of any food packaging containing BPA in France, what will be the effect on the food industry and will it affect the cooler sector there?

  • Gustav Felix

    It is the industry’s general impression that the French authorities totally underestimate the impact of such a law as a “precautionary principle” without the support of scientific evidence. In the Polycarbonate industry alone the European socio-economic impact could reach over 30 billion Euros and affect 500,000 employees. In addition, the can coating with over 380 million Euros. We are talking about 25 billion food cans, 50 billion beverage cans and 35 billion metal closures for bottles and jars. If we look at the entire European food industry there are about 4.2 million employees involved in over 310,000 companies. By comparison to our relatively smaller industry of bottled water coolers the impact of a total BPA ban would affect approx. 2000 companies with a turnover of 1.18 billion Euros and approx. 50,000 employees. A change to the bottle labels to advise about the content of BPA in the Polycarbonate before the total ban is imposed, as requested by the French Decree, will cost our industry approx. 59 million Euros and will require a time frame of 2 to 3 years to implement. WE has made clear the industry’s concerns within the Food Contact Material Experts Group as well as in meetings with the EU Commission and needs to make sure that EU Member States will initiate infringement procedures against France and other countries (e.g. Belgium and Sweden) which have gone beyond the existing EU regulations with their BPA bans. By way of the latest information: In April 2013 Health Canada published a study showing that BPA-exposure is more than 1,000 times below the safe intake levels with the comment “that current dietary exposure to BPA through food packaging uses is not expected to pose a health risk to the general population”.

  • PAC

    Many thanks Gustav…..

Past interviews