Regrettable chemical substitution of bisphenol A

The chemical bisphenol A (BPA), commonly used in the manufacture of plastics, has been restricted or banned for several applications due to its harmful effects on human health and aquatic organisms. Alternatives have been developed to replace this chemical, including bisphenol S (BPS), bisphenol F (BPF) and others. However, these chemical substitutes, also known as regrettable chemical substitution, pose an equal or even greater threat to human health and aquatic organisms.

Nº 55
  • Chemicals & Waste
  • Harmful Chemicals Reduction
  • Substitution of Chemicals
some attempts made
past case
Region-1
Region-2
Region-3
Region-4
ongoing case
no attempts made

Yes

Regrettable chemical substitution of bisphenol A

The chemical bisphenol A (BPA), commonly used in the manufacture of plastics, has been restricted or banned for several applications due to its harmful effects on human health and aquatic organisms. Alternatives have been developed to replace this chemical, including bisphenol S (BPS), bisphenol F (BPF) and others. However, these chemical substitutes, also known as regrettable chemical substitution, pose an equal or even greater threat to human health and aquatic organisms.

Despite serving as a substitute for bisphenol A (BPA), the introduction of bisphenol S (BPS) in China has had a significant impact on human health. A study conducted in 2014 found that Chinese pregnant women exposed to BPS were associated with longer pregnancy duration. Longer pregnancy duration is associated with a serious risk of stillbirth and newborn death within the first week, and a higher risk of complications during delivery.

  • Facilitated the efforts to address the initial problem; Frustrated the efforts to address the initial problem
  • Singular (only one effect)

Yanjian Wan, Wenqian Huo, Shunqing Xu, Tongzhang Zheng, Bin Zhang, Yuanyuan Li, Aifen Zhou, Yiming Zhang, Jie Hu, Yingshuang Zhu, Zhong Chen, Shi Lu, Chuansha Wu, Minmin Jiang, Yangqian Jiang, Hongxiu Liu, Xueyu Yang, Wei Xia. (2018) Relationship between maternal exposure to bisphenol S and pregnancy duration. Environmental Pollution, 238. 717-724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.03.057.

Liu, J., Zhang, L., Lu, G., Jiang, R., Yan, Z., & Li, Y. (2021). Occurrence, toxicity and ecological risk of Bisphenol A analogues in aquatic environment – A review. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 208, 111481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.111481

Rochester, J. R., & Bolden, A. L. (2015). Bisphenol S and F: A systematic review and comparison of the hormonal activity of bisphenol a substitutes. In Environmental Health Perspectives (Vol. 123, Issue 7, pp. 643–650). Public Health Services, US Dept of Health and Human Services. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408989

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