Bisphenol A (BPA), the synthetic hormone used in baby bottles, toddler cups, water bottle and other recipients, has been a subject of controversy since “forever” or at least it seems so with so many scientific reports warning about its negative effects on babies’ health primarily and why not on adults’ health as well.

In August, the Food and Drug Administration issued a report in which it declared bisphenol –A safe at current levels found in baby bottles and canned foods. The report was highly criticized by lawmakers and scientists because it relied mostly on industry-funded studies and contradicted over 100 studies suggesting BPA is harmful.

Bisphenol-A has been under fire since April this year when 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-A could cause changes in behaviour 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.”

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, a study published in September in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed.

Despite so many studies showing that bisphenol-A is harmful, the Food and Drug Administration in August concluded that the chemical is safe. But a panel of scientists. appointed by the agency’s Science Board to review its task force report, called the FDA’s conclusions on bisphenol-A inadequate and recommended that the agency abandon its earlier findings about the safety of the controversial chemical.

The 17-page report will be released today on the FDA Web site.

FDA spokeswoman Judy Leon said “FDA agrees that due to the uncertainties raised in some studies relating to the potential effects of low doses of bisphenol-A that additional research would be valuable.”

The report will be discussed at a meeting of the FDA’s science board Friday, but what exactly it will mean for consumers was not immediately clear.

“The panel was very clear, but we don’t know if the FDA is going to listen. If they do, it could be a couple of years before they do anything. The FDA’s assessment should have been done right the first time. Now it’s going to have to be redone,” said consumer activist Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women & Families.