Panel rules against bispehnol A warnings

SACRAMENTO, July 18 (UPI) -- California regulators say they won't require warning labels for plastic products containing bisphenol A, a suspected cancer-causing chemical.

The state's reproductive toxicant panel said not enough evidence exists to take action, despite more than 200 studies linking bisphenol A to cancer and reproductive problems, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

The seven-member panel of scientists and doctors did not recognize secondhand smoke as a reproductive toxin until 2006 and in the last three years, the panel voted to warn the public against only one chemical, said Gretchen Lee Salter, policy manager at the Breast Cancer Fund.

"This isn't exactly a committee that's on the cutting edge of public health decisions in California," Salter told the Times.

Last month, the state Senate voted to ban bisphenol A in food and drink containers for children age 3 and under. The California Assembly is to vote on the proposed ban later this summer, the Times reported.