WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing its conclusion from last year that a much-debated chemical used in baby bottles and food containers is safe for infants.
Hours earlier, two influential Democrats sent a letter yesterday questioning that decision to new FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg. She has pledged to restore confidence in the agency by putting science first in its decision-making process.
The FDA ruled last year that trace amounts of bisphenol-A that leach out of bottles and food packaging are not dangerous. But the agency's own advisers faulted the report for relying on a small number of industry-sponsored studies, and consumer advocates said it ignored dozens of animal studies suggesting the chemical can interfere with infant hormone levels.
