It seems as though just about everyone is taking action to limit the use of the ubiquitous chemical bisphenol-A – that is, everyone but the FDA.

BPA is a compound used in hard plastics and the lining of food cans that has been linked to developmental disorders. Over the past year or so, the media has been reporting regularly on the scientific studies documenting the risks associated with BPA as well as growing consumer concern over its safety, especially for kids.

But the FDA has refused to act. Instead, relying on industry-funded studies, the agency has consistently held that BPA does not pose a risk at current exposure levels.

But state and local governments aren’t so slow on the uptake. This week, a legislature in Suffolk County New York voted to ban BPA in bottles and cups intended for use in children under 4.

Meanwhile, BPA-laden products are being removed from store shelves voluntarily. A number of manufacturers and retailers have or are planning to limit the sale products made with BPA.

Today’s Washington Post reports the latest voluntary move in which the six largest makers of baby bottles have announced they will discontinue the use of BPA. The article includes the industry’s reasoning:

Philips Avent stopped selling baby products with BPA on Dec. 31 in North America but continues to market them overseas, [Shannon Jenest of Philips Avent] said. "We felt like we had hit a tipping point with our consumers and with our retailers," Jenest said. "Babies R Us was banning it, Target was going to, CVS was going to, and so the distribution channels were lessening and lessening." 

To be certain, this situation fits nicely into the conservative mold of how regulation ought to occur: public pressure and consumer demand forced a change in firm behavior. The market works.

But the situation also illustrates the extent to which businesses, states, and consumers distrust the FDA. Even though FDA says BPA is safe, few are taking the agency at its word. More importantly, the high-profile foodborne illness outbreaks of the last few years have left most wary of FDA’s ability to ensure the safety of products once they enter the stream of commerce.

Officials in the plastics industry must have at least considered the possibility that their product would be linked, at some point in the future, to a major public health crises (a la Peanut Corporation of America). Or worse yet, that their product would be falsely accused (a la the tomato industry in last summer’s salmonella outbreak). It seems industry, like consumers, is rapidly losing faith in the FDA.

Image by Flickr user 2-Dog-Farm, used under a Creative Commons license.