Canned soup 'doesn't lead' to higher than expected levels of BPA in blood

A new research has revealed that coating the mouth with BPA-containing food, like soup, does not lead to higher than expected levels of BPA in blood.

BPA, also known as bisphenol A, is used to make some plastics and to seal canned food containers against bacterial contamination and food, which picks up trace amounts of BPA from packaging, is the major source of human exposure.

Health concerns about BPA center on its potential to mimic certain hormones at really high exposures, but within the last month, the European Food Safety Authority and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reaffirmed their earlier decisions that BPA is safe as used in food packaging materials.

A 2013 study in dogs, however, focused attention on the possibility that their conclusions might be based on incorrect assumptions about how much BPA gets into the human body from food and beverages.

Author Justin Teeguarden of the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory said that regulatory agency conclusions about the safety of BPA were questioned, with increasing frequency and intensity, after publication of the dog study.

Teeguarden added that testing this hypothesis, in humans, became necessary because the dog study challenged conclusions regarding BPA exposure in humans and so to fully coat the oral cavity, 10 male volunteers ate warmed tomato soup in which researchers had placed a traceable form of BPA. They took multiple blood and urine samples over a 24 hour period.

The team found that coating the mouth in this way did not lead to higher levels of the active form of BPA in blood, confirming that there is no merit to hypotheses that BPA accumulates in humans. The entire dose of BPA was eliminated in urine within 24 hours, with no evidence of accumulation.

Teeguarden added that this latest study contributes new measurements in humans that confirm and extend the body of animal and human data and analyses establishing that BPA levels in human blood are even lower than those considered safe by regulatory agencies.