Despite various clearances and proof of its safety, BPA continues to be in the headlines for the wrong reasons! The industry is divided and both sides have valid points to support their arguments. On the one hand, there is a lot of legit data that questions the safety of BPA. While on the other hand, there are many studies, which prove that the consumer exposure level is negligible.
Market research firms preparing reports on BPA-free segment often mention increased consumer pressure as one of the reasons for growing demand for BPA-free solutions. Also, reports published by leading bodies like ECHA have an impact.
Earlier this year, four new ‘substances of very high concern’ (SVHC) were added to their Candidate list. One of them was BPA – which was included based on the proposals by France, Sweden, Germany and Austria. The official reason for inclusion was stated as ‘Toxic for reproduction (Article 57c)’.
| # |
Substance name |
EC number |
CAS number |
Reason for inclusion |
Examples of use(s) |
| 1 |
4,4’-isopropylidenediphenol (bisphenol A; BPA); |
201-245-8 |
80-05-7 |
Toxic for reproduction (Article 57c) |
Manufacture of polycarbonate, epoxy resins and chemicals; hardener in epoxy resins |
| 2 |
Nonadecafluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) and its sodium and ammonium salts |
206-400-3
-
221-470-5 |
335-76-2
3830-45-3
3108-42-7 |
Toxic for reproduction (Article 57c)
PBT (Article 57d) |
Lubricant, wetting agent, plasticizer and corrosion inhibitor |
| 3 |
p-(1,1-dimethylpropyl)phenol |
201-280-9 |
80-46-6 |
Equivalent level of concern having probable serious effects to environment (Article 57f) |
Manufacture of chemicals and plastic products |
| 4 |
4-heptylphenol, branched and linear [substances with a linear and/or branched alkyl chain with a carbon number of 7 covalently bound predominantly in position 4 to phenol, covering also UVCB- and well-defined substances which include any of the individual isomers or a combination thereof] |
- |
- |
Equivalent level of concern having probable serious effects to environment (Article 57f) |
Manufacture of polymers; formulation into lubricants |
(Credit: ECHA)
Current ‘BPA-free’ Solutions
Some of the ingredients manufacturers and formulators of can coatings are looking to respond to these demands. They approach this in two ways:
- Offering solutions that replace epoxy coatings altogether in cans
- Offering solutions that replace BPA in epoxy coatings
When it comes to direct replacement of BPA in epoxy, not many options exist + many experts in the industry feel that the safety of the alternatives is in itself a big question.
In fact, majority of the solutions belong to category 1. A prominent new example of this is
Dow’s CANVERA™ Polyolefin Dispersions for metal can coating. Epoxy is being replaced by PE coatings in this case.
The second example is a green solution – soy-based to be precise.
Soy-PK Reactive Oligomer Cross-Linker from Ohio Soybean Council (OSC) received an award at the 2016 Bio-Based Innovation Awards. It offers a readily implementable drop-in replacement for BPA-containing epoxy coatings in metal beer, beverage, and food can coatings.
Other BPA Alternatives