An article published in the peer-reviewed Medicolegal and Bioethics presents a rare challenge not just to the ethics but also to the science of using non human primates in research.
More Press Releases
Adverse drug reactions kill 197,000 Europeans annually
Jun 23, ’11
09:05 AM
In a letter addressed to EU Commissioner John Dalli, Antidote Europe points to the growing number of scientists who consider animal tests to be about as predictive as, or less than, tossing a coin.
Patients are now the real guinea pigs
Jan 6, ’11
12:48 PM
Antidote Europe welcomes recent French media reports warning the public about dangerous medicines.
BBC presenter Uhlenbroek joins scientists on campaign
Oct 12, ’10
09:00 AM
The campaign’s report presents an immediate science strategy to end poisoning tests on non-human primates.
Making a molehill out of the Bisphenol A mountain
Jul 6, ’10
02:45 PM
Antidote Europe has criticised the French government for taking very timid measures to ban the synthetic chemical bisphenol A (BPA). It makes no sense to protect nursing infants by banning the substance in baby bottles when their mothers are exposed to it on a daily basis — not to mention the effect on the foetuses of pregnant women.
Another warning about bisphenol A
Feb 10, ’10
06:39 AM
Antidote Europe has re-issued its warning on bisphenol A, criticizing the French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA) on its confused and unclear public announcements regarding this chemical.
Antidote Europe receives achievement award
Nov 26, ’09
06:47 AM
Antidote Europe was awarded the Pietro Croce prize.
Is Bisphenol A the new silent killer?
Aug 5, ’09
07:03 AM
Antidote Europe has launched a public campaign regarding the dangers of bisphenol A and has duly informed the new president of the European Parliament.
Bisphenol A, a chemical time bomb?
Jul 8, ’09
07:23 AM
It is difficult to understand why food safety agencies continue to place their trust in ambiguous animal data when human data is readily available. The fact that DES and BPA share striking similarities in their structures is extremely worrisome and lends weight to the possibility that BPA is a “chemical time bomb” in terms of our health.
Press Releases
EU continues to allow bisphenol in baby dummies
Date
Mon 25 Aug 2008
Summary
According to EFSA, the exposure of the human foetus to bisphenol A would be negligible because the mother rapidly metabolizes and eliminates this substance from her body. This conclusion is in contradiction with basic pharmacokinetics knowledge.
At a time when the Canadian government seeks to ban bisphenol A (BPA), especially in baby items, EU authorities appear to want to look the other way. Research commissioned by the group Antidote Europe has revealed the toxic potential of BPA, and the group is therefore dismayed that the EU authorities choose to ignore the health warnings associated with cancer and endocrine disruption.
Based on studies conducted in rats, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published 23 July 2008 what it considers to be a “Tolerable Daily Intake” (TDI) of the chemical, at 0.05mg per kilogram of bodyweight.
Despite acknowledging significant differences between humans and rodents, EFSA apparently chose to ignore data on BPA obtained in human cells, which Antidote Europe presented to it in May, to bring the TDI figure more into line with data relevant to humans.
In support of its recommendations, EFSA stressed the fact that “people metabolize and excrete BPA far more quickly than rodents”, and concluded that “the exposure of the human foetus to BPA would be negligible because the mother rapidly metabolises and eliminates BPA from her body”. This suggests that rapid metabolism of a chemical provides protection against adverse effects. However, many prescription drugs are also metabolized quickly in the body and eliminated in a matter of a few hours, yet are able to exert powerful pharmacological effects on the body.
We would therefore urge EFSA to base its recommendations on the risk posed by BPA to humans, on data obtained from human cell cultures to begin with, using methods that are now well established, in place of unreliable animal tests.
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