WASHINGTON - May 18 - A new report reveals that Americans who eat food from cans, which are lined with the synthetic hormone bisphenol A (BPA), may be exposed to the chemical at levels that have been shown to cause negative health effects in laboratory animal studies. The report is expected to boost efforts underway in the Senate to include restrictions on BPA in food packaging as part of the Food Safety Modernization Act, whose final form is being negotiated by Senate leaders.

The report, No Silver Lining: An Investigation into Bisphenol A in Canned Foods, was released by the National Workgroup for Safe Markets, a coalition of U.S. public health- and environmental health-focused organizations, including the Breast Cancer Fund.

“Anyone who reads this report would agree that getting BPA out of food is an urgent food safety issue that demands immediate congressional action,” said Janet Nudelman, policy director for the Breast Cancer Fund. “Fortunately, the Senate has the opportunity to address this problem right now by including strong protections against food-based exposures to BPA in the Food Safety Modernization Act. This is our best chance to protect Americans, especially our kids, from this toxic chemical.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has introduced legislation that would ban BPA in cans, in addition to other food and beverage containers. The Senator is hopeful that the Food Safety Act will include language that protects consumers from BPA exposure. The food packaging industry and chemical industries say they will oppose any food safety bill that includes restrictions on BPA.

BPA has been banned from baby bottles and children’s sippy cups in Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Vermont, four counties in New York and the City of Chicago. Connecticut and Vermont restrict the use of BPA in cans of baby food and canned infant formula.

“Action by the states is commendable, but it is resulting in a patchwork of regulation that still leaves the majority of American children and mothers exposed to a chemical that’s been linked in hundreds of peer-reviewed studies to breast cancer, developmental problems and a host of other illnesses,” said Nudelman. “The Senate needs to act on the evidence we already have and protect kids now by addressing BPA as part of the food safety bill.”

Read the full report at http://contaminatedwithoutconsent.org/nosilverlining.php

Read more about BPA and food safety at www.breastcancerfund.org/bpaac