Plastics safe, says industry

The plastics industry yesterday backed the use of polycarbonate in packaging, saying consumers had been unnecessarily alarmed by the results of a United States study.

Carolyn Cox, Plastics NZ environmental affairs manager, said polycarbonate was "totally safe" in its common applications.

Polycarbonate was used in products ranging from compact discs and protective equipment to food and drink containers, she said.

The grades used for food containers had been specifically and scientifically approved by authorities such as the US Food and Drug Administration.

"The FDA is known to have some of the most stringent regulations in force," Ms Cox said.

Last month, researchers in Ohio reported that exposure to the ingredient bisphenol A (BPA) caused birth defects in mice.

BPA is a building block (monomer) that is transformed through polymerisation to make polycarbonate.

The study was based on the findings of Patricia Hunt and colleagues from Case Western Reserve University.

Dr Neville Miller, a polymer technology specialist with the New Zealand Government science company Industrial Research, expressed reservations about how the study had been reported.

There was a lack of information about the stringent testing required for polycarbonate containers used for food, he said.

Little detail was also provided about the level of the BPA the mice were exposed to.

- NZPA