Flip-flopping at EPA

Opinion: February 19, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Last fall, Lisa Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, was talking tough about the need to protect the public from toxic chemicals. At the top of her list: bisphenol A.

Now, apparently, not so much.

Jackson needs to explain why, after all the jawboning, her agency failed to include BPA on a list of chemicals facing stricter labeling and reporting requirements. That decision came Dec. 30, eight days after lobbyists for the chemical industry met with Obama administration officials.

The failure to target BPA raises suspicion that the meeting between industry representatives and employees of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs influenced the EPA’s decision. The office is an arm of the Office of Management and Budget, which considers the costs and benefits of government policy.

Playing old tricks

The chemical industry seems to have relied on some of its old tricks at the meeting — trotting out industry-funded studies that downplay the risks of BPA. According to documents examined by the Journal Sentinel, 13 of 19 papers and presentations cited at the meeting were funded by the industry.

Independent research reaches a different conclusion. In hundreds of studies, the chemical has been linked to health problems ranging from cancer, obesity and heart disease to diabetes and sexual dysfunction.

BPA is used in dozens of household products, including the linings of food and beverage cans and hardened plastics. Studies have found that the chemical leaches into the contents of those containers when heated.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month reversed earlier findings and declared it now has “some concern” about the chemical’s effects on fetuses, infants and young children. Canada, as well as several states and municipalities, have passed limited bans.

BPA should be removed immediately from all products intended for children, and over time, it should be removed from everything else. No one, adult or child, should have contact with it.

Federal watchdogs and Congress need to do their jobs.