The Big BPA Lie - The BPA File, Part Three
Editor’s note: You can read The BPA File – Part One here and The BPA File – Part Two here.
When
I began this series about bisphenol-A (BPA) I instituted a Google
Alert for Internet posts that mentioned it. From January through
March it generated a report each day filled with notifications of
newspaper, magazine, and Internet posts all denouncing BPA has a
hazardous chemical that threatened the health of everyone from
infants to adults.
More than one thousand posts were
reported. Virtually all spread false information.
Such things
do not happen by accident. They are the result of a concerted effort
to defame BPA, and they are indicative of a massive public-relations
effort. Serendipitously, on March 2nd the National Review published
an article by Jon Entire, “Don’t
Rush to Ban Chemicals”
that revealed how public opinion is manipulated by the use of dubious
“scientific studies” and the way most people, unschooled in
science, do not realize that “one part per billion” of any
substance poses no risk at all.
Entine cited a survey that
found that “Canadians on average have about one part per billion of
BPA in their urine, while Americans have twice that amount” noting
that this “is not just meaningless, let alone news by any
definition, but is part of the massive public-relations campaign to
get BPA banned.”
“Labeling a chemical ‘toxic’ or a
‘contaminant’ is meaningless,” said Entine. “Toxicity is a
question of degree; exposure is different from effect. Apples,
bananas, broccoli, cabbage, citrus fruits, mushrooms, turnips, and
many more foods contain occurring chemicals that are toxic—they
cause cancer at large lifelong doses in laboratory rodents. Tofu is
more estrogenic than BPA.”
Anyone who wants to learn the
truth about BPA is advised to visit Junkscience.com, the website of
Steve Milloy who has gained a solid reputation for debunking
so-called “science based” fear campaigns. His data on BPA
reveal
that there is no scientific evidence that BPA:
• Has ever
harmed anyone despite 50 years of use;
• Acts as an
endocrine disruptor; and
• Has any health effects at low
doses;
Furthermore, the data debunks some of the most
off-cited and false claims about BPA.
• BPA is not
carcinogenic or mutagenic;
• BPA does not adversely affect
reproduction or development at any realistic dose;
• BPA is
efficiently “metabolized” and rapidly excreted after oral
exposure.
So where does the worldwide anti-BPA public relations
campaign originate?
The answer to that has to be by
inference, but many trace it to Fenton Communications whose founder,
David Fenton, has left-wing associations and affiliations dating all
the way back to the domestic terror group, the Weathermen, for whom
he was a photographer.
In a lengthy profile on
DiscoverTheNetworks.org, one learns that in 1982, he established
Fenton
Communications,
specializing in advancing the agendas of “left-wing groups.” “One
of Fenton’s most widely publicized achievements was his 1989 attack
against the producers of Alar, a preservative (used on apples) that
he erroneously characterized as carcinogenic.” The cost to American
apple growers and distributors was catastrophic. It was deceptive.
The anti-BPA scare campaign is patterned on the anti-Alar
campaign, and a further link is found in the fact that two of Fenton’s
longtime clients, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the
Environmental
Working Group
are leaders in the anti-BPA campaign. Moreover, BornFree, a company
that specializes in products that do not contain BPA, is also a
Fenton client.
In the book The Fear Profiteers, Fenton
Communications was identified as having “played a key role in a
growing number of health scare campaigns.” At the time the book was
published, Fenton was linked to “scares about Alar and apples,
swordfish, leaky breast implants, and a front group (a favorite PR
ploy) Health Care Without Harm that put forth lies about the alleged,
but unproven danger of phthalates; chemicals used to make plastic
flexible products for IV bags, nipples, and children’s
toys.
Suffice it to say, Fenton Communications is opposed to
anything that has to do with plastic, no matter how useful and safe
the product may be. BPA has been in use for over fifty years to line
the insides of metal and plastic food containers, protecting against
spoilage. More than 6,000 studies have been made over the years, and
none have demonstrated any hazard.
“If you have been scared
about food or pesticides in the last ten years,” said The Fear Profiteers, “chances are Fenton Communications played a key role
in provoking that fear. The fears just don’t ever stop. But they
all have one thing in common—a lack of evidence and abundance of
deceit.”
The anti-BPA
propaganda
that has been put in motion is multiplied by the countless
journalists who simply repeat the lies, accounting for some of the
most meretricious misinformation on a daily basis. This in turn is
multiplied by the seemingly endless blogs and alleged “health”
websites that repeat and repeat it, primarily targeting expectant and
new mothers. Another favorite target are men who are told BPA affects
their sex drive.
The problem for everyone, everywhere in the
world, occurs when governments or entities such as the European Union
ban the use of BPA despite overwhelming evidence of its safe use.
That puts everyone at risk for the food-related illnesses that occur
when containers no longer have the protection that BPA
provides.
Alan Caruba writes a daily post at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com. An author and business and science writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.
© Alan Caruba, 2011
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