Assessment of recent developmental immunotoxicity studies with bisphenol A in the context of the 2015 EFSA t-TDI

Humans are exposed to bisphenol A (BPA) mainly through the diet, air, dust, skin contact and water. There are concerns about adverse health effects in humans due to exposure to bisphenol A (BPA). The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has extensively reviewed the available literature to establish a temporary Tolerable Daily Intake (t-TDI). This exposure level was based on all available literature published before the end of 2012. Since then, new experimental animal studies have emerged, including those that identified effects of BPA on the immune system after developmental exposure. These studies indicate that developmental immunotoxicity might occur at lower dose levels than previously observed and on which the current EFSA t-TDI is based. The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) organized an expert workshop in September 2015 to consider recently published studies on the developmental immunotoxicity of bisphenol A (BPA). Key studies were discussed in the context of other experimental studies. The workshop concluded that these new experimental studies provide credible evidence for adverse immune effects after developmental exposure to BPA at 5 μg/kg BW/day from gestation day 15 to postnatal day 21. Supportive evidence for adverse immune effects in similar dose ranges was obtained from other publications that were discussed during the workshop. The dose level associated with adverse immune effects is considerably lower than the dose used by EFSA for deriving the t-TDI. The workshop unanimously concluded that the current EFSA t-TDI warrants reconsideration in the context of all currently available data.