The substance bisphenol A (BPA) has been in the spotlight for a long time and is present in the media as a "hormone poison". Polymers based on BPA (e.g. epoxy resins) are sometimes used in the paint and printing ink industry. In the area of food contact materials, legal limits for paints and coatings intended to come into contact with food have been in force for some time. A new assessment of BPA recommends lowering the limit value for the daily permitted intake by a factor of 20,000 (!).
Scientific inconsistencies
The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), on the other hand, comes to an assessment that differs by a factor of 1000. It states: "The BfR does not support the new TDI derived by the EFSA due to several scientific and methodological inconsistencies (divergences)". According to the BfR, no adverse health effects of the current BPA intake level for humans have yet been proven. Nevertheless, the European Commission has now decided to ban the use of BPA in food contact materials on the basis of the EFSA assessment.
Ban in food contact shortly before publication
As far as paints and varnishes are concerned, the Commission wants to ban the intentional use of BPA in FCMs. Monitoring and reporting obligations are to supplement the ban. In many areas of the paint and printing ink industry, BPA-based formulations in food contact are hardly relevant any more anyway, e.g. in the case of printing inks, where the market has already largely anticipated regulatory developments. However, epoxy resins are of great importance for can coatings and large tanks, for example in the heavy-duty sector. While there are now alternatives for can coatings, this is not the case for large tanks. Here, however, the Commission has made an exception for epoxy resins for tanks with a volume of over 1000 liters.
Clarification required
Together with the German Food Association, the VdL is currently campaigning for a practicable clarification of the outstanding questions and details. It is currently assumed that the ban will be published soon and come into force at the end of the year. The REACH restriction, on the other hand, is to be completely revised first.