The European Commission and its Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published on May 14, 2021 its final opinion on the presence of Bisphenol A (BPA) in clothing articles. This document comes after a request by the European Commission to verify the presence and activity of BPA in clothing articles, to detect the consumer groups who could be more affected by this substance and to establish maximum limits on clothing products.
In this sense, this final opinion is based on the health risk assessments carried on by EFSA (2015) and ECHA (2015) (SCCS, 2020) and, regarding the three points, it concludes the following:
1. The SCCS states that “there is no risk for adverse effects of the estimated exposure levels of BPA resulting from the use of clothes, independent of the age group of the consumer” (SCCS, 2021). Nevertheless, the opinion does mention that young children are likely to be more exposed to BPA due to sucking on clothes;
2. However, based on its review of available data, the SCCS points out that there is only one study who refers to BPA migration from clothes (SCCS, 2021). Therefore, the SCCS is wary of this fact and conditions its opinion to the existence of more studies in the future. As such, its final opinion could be updated in the future.
Regarding restrictions on this substance, Obelis also issued a previous article referring to the new restrictions on the values of the Bisphenol A used on toys (Obelis, 2017). Moreover, Obelis has also a wide variety of articles referring to Covid 19-related clothing (Amsing, 2020) and to the national health institute’s opinion on the compliance of substances authorized by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) (Obelis, 2021).
Pablo De Mingo Monge
Regulatory Affairs Department
26.05.2021
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References:
- Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS). (2021) Opinion on the safety of presence of Bisphenol A in clothing articles. Retrieved on 25/05/2021 from https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/default/files/scientific_committees/consumer_safety/docs/sccs_o_240.pdf
- Obelis Group. (2021). Chemicals found to be non-compliant with EU rules. Retrieved on 20/05/2021 from https://www.obelis.net/news/chemicals-found-to-be-non-compliant-with-eu-rules/
- Obelis Group. (2017). New limits for BPA in toys. Retrieved on 20/05/2021 from https://www.obelis.net/blog/new-limits-for-bpa-in-toys/
- Amsing, J. (2020). How is protective clothing regulated in the EU? Retrieved on 20/05/2021 from https://www.obelis.net/blog/how-is-protective-clothing-regulated-in-the-eu/