The European Commission and its Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published today the preliminary Opinion on the safety of presence of BPA in clothing articles.

Interested parties are invited to submit their comments on the scientific evidence online until 7 December 2020.

The Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety was requested to provide a scientific opinion on “The safety of the presence of BPA in clothing articles”. The main purpose of the scientific opinion is to provide scientific support to assist the Commission in assessing the risk of the presence of BPA in clothing articles and the potential need for legislative amendments in the chemicals legislation and/or enforcement measures under the General Product Safety Directive.

In particular, the SCCS was asked to:

1. review the available data on the presence and activity of Bisphenol A in clothing articles, taking into consideration the adopted opinions on tolerable intake limits and the legislative framework in other products (food contact materials, toys and printed paper)
2. determine whether the exposure levels to BPA due to the use of clothing articles raises health concerns for consumers and, if possible, to provide indications on limit values for BPA content/release from clothing articles
3. identify whether vulnerable consumers such as infants and young children (who might put such articles in their mouth) or pregnant women are in particular risk. And on the basis of the risk assessment, could it be indicated what level of exposure to BPA from textiles can be accepted in such groups.

More information:

• On the work of the Commission's independent scientific committees