Anatomy of a Green Scare: Consumer Reports or Distorts Facts About BPA?
by Mary GrabarIt’s a chemical that has been used in everyday plastic products like eyeglasses, medical equipment, bottles, and food can linings for over fifty years. But the compound Bisphenol A (BPA) has been the target of scare campaigns over the last few years. On one hand critics contend that BPA at low doses can affect endocrine systems and reproduction, and cause birth or developmental effects, as well as cancer. On the other hand, a search of the literature finds no single case of illness or death related to BPA.
Most recently, BPA came under attack November 2 when Consumers Union, the parent organization of the respected Consumer Reports, sent out a press release announcing the results of its lab tests that purportedly showed high levels of the suspect compound in 19 food products. The authors of the Consumers Report article did not claim that they had found any harmful effects in anyone, just that BPA had been detected.
The Consumers Union press release inspired panic-inducing headlines. ABC News, the Los Angeles Times, Fox News, and the New York Times dutifully announced the “results” with alarm. In a separate commentary, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff compared the danger of BPA to those he has faced as a reporter of “threats from warlords, bandits and tarantulas.”
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