Canada bans Bisphenol A

Canada has become the first country in the world to ban and declare bisphenol A (BPA) as a toxic substance under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

BPA, commonly used to make plastics, has been linked to a wide range of health disorders, including prostrate and breast cancer, because of its ability to mimic the hormone estrogen.

The Canadian governmental agencies first evaluated BPA in infant milk bottles, then all plastic bottles, and finally the lining of cans. In the latter case, BPA is used as an epoxy to help in the preservation of canned foods, and testing has indicated that trace amounts can leak into the food resulting in prolonged exposure for humans.

Dionex Corporation announced it has already developed a fast and accurate screening method for detecting BPA in food and beverage containers. In addition, several demonstrated applications, including the recovery of BPA from canned tuna and phenols in drinking water, are available.

Methods using ultra-sensitive mass spectrometric detection have been developed for rapid automated testing for BPA without sample preparation or preconcentration, and used for the testing of bottled water, consumer products and infant feeding bottles.