A preliminary report by the FDA declared the levels of bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles and other household products safe despite serious evidence that the chemical might cause cancer or lead to early or delayed puberty. The agency “has concluded that an adequate margin of safety exists,” a draft report on its Web site said. The FDA agreed that more research needs to be done in order to understand BPA’s effects on human health.

The debate continues, as there are many environmental groups that say the chemical can hurt children and animals. Consumer safety groups say the BPA, which is a synthetic hormone similar to estrogen, can interfere with how the body absorbs the natural hormone estrogen, which is needed in the development of young bodies.

A report by the National Toxicology Program said there was “some concern” about its risks in infants. Based on tests on animals the government working group said bisphenol could cause changes in behavior and the brain, and that it might reduce survival and birth weight in fetuses. The NTP’s report noted “some concern” for effects on the brain, prostate gland and on behaviour in fetuses, infants and children, “minimal concern” for reproductive effects in adults who work with bisphenol A and “negligible concern” for fetal or neonatal death, birth defects, or reduced birth weight and growth in babies born to women exposed to bisphenol A during pregnancy. The report concluded that “the possibility that BPA may affect human development cannot be dismissed.”

The chemical bisphenol A is used in hard plastic products, including some baby and water bottles. Advocacy groups and some members of Congress have called on regulators to ban the chemical.

Studies linked higher urinary levels of bisphenol A to an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. Higher BPA levels are also associated with abnormal concentrations of three liver enzymes, a team of British and American scientists found, in a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers compared the health status of 1,455 men and women with the levels of the bisphenol in their urine. Those with higher concentrations of the chemical were nearly three times as likely to have cardiovascular disease compared with those with the lowest levels. They found no conection between BPA and other diseases, including cancer. However, the researchers called the results of the study “preliminary.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention around 93percent of Americans have traces of bisphenol in their urine.

Laura Tarantino, the director of Food and Drug Adminstration Office of Food Additive Safety told an expert panel that has been asked to conduct a double investigation on the agency’s report on bisphenol A that “a margin of safety exists that is adequate to protect consumers, including infants and children, at the current levels of exposure.” She said the agency would look at the latest research.

“We’re just beginig,” Tarantino said. “The agency has made a commitment to look at this, and we’re going to look at it carefully.”