The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)'s expert panel re-evaluated bisphenol A, a chemical used in polycarbonate plastics and can linings, after reviewing more than 800 new studies.
It set a new tolerable daily intake of 0.2 nanograms per kilogram of body weight per day, 20,000 times lower than the previous limit of 4 micrograms, based on evidence of effects on the immune system. It concluded that dietary exposure is 100 to 1,000 times above this level in all age groups. The European Commission then adopted Regulation (EU) 2024/3190 banning BPA and related bisphenols in food-contact plastics, coatings, inks and adhesives, in force from 20 January 2025 with transitions of 18 to 48 months.
This matters because it is the most sweeping regulatory action yet against a plastic additive, based on an official safety assessment rather than campaign pressure.
Other regulators, notably in the US and Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), have disagreed with EFSA's methodology, so the safe level remains debated internationally.