FDA fuels debate over dangers of plastic

The Food and Drug Administration is adding fuel to the debate over the safety of plastic baby bottles and other products.

A chemical called Bisphenol-A, or BPA, is known to leach out of plastic containers and into the digestive tract. It was the subject of an ABC7 health investigation earlier this year.

The new FDA report argues that the levels are too low to present a serious health risk.

It will be presented for review at a meeting of scientists in Washington next month.

Environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) accuse the agency of relying on industry sponsored research and ignoring hundreds of other studies.

"The release today doesn't give us much confidence that the FDA is going to change how they work with this chemical in the future," said Dr. Sarah Janssen with the NRDC.

The group is also suspicious of the timing of the report. A bill by State Senator Carol Migden to ban BPA in California is scheduled for a vote next week.

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