NEWS RELEASE

Committee on Energy and Commerce
Rep. John D. Dingell, Chairman

Congressional Bisphenol A Probe Widens to
Examine Consulting Group

Washington, DC – Reps. John D. Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Bart Stupak (D-MI), Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, announced today that their ongoing investigation into Bisphenol A (BPA) has broadened to include the scientific and regulatory firm the Weinberg Group. In a letter to the Washington, DC based consultancy, Dingell and Stupak ask for records pertaining to work the group has done on the chemical Bisphenol A, as well as other chemicals.

“There are serious health concerns about whether Bisphenol A is safe, not only for adults, but for children and infants,” Dingell said. “The tactics apparently employed by the Weinberg Group raise serious questions about whether science is for sale at these consulting groups, and the effect this faulty science might have on the public health.”

“From previous correspondence, it appears that the Weinberg Group prides itself on using its ‘scientific capital’ to create an outcome desired by corporate clients,” Stupak added. “It is not at all clear whether such outcomes are supported by the real scientific evidence. Our Committee will be interested to see whether the proponents of Bisphenol A have paid to engineer science that reaches pre-determined conclusions.”

Dingell and Stupak’s letter notes that a 2006 letter published in Environmental Health Perspectives is authored by a Weinberg Group consultant. The letter also cites a 2003 communication from the Weinberg Group to its client DuPont de Nemours & Company, which outlines various tactics to “shape the debate” surrounding perfluorochemicals and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Among other strategies, the Weinberg Group proposes developing “blue-ribbon panels” to create “awareness of safety regarding PFOA”; “constructing a study to establish not only that PFOA is safe”; and coordinating the “publishing of white papers on PFOA, junk science and the limits of medical monitoring.” The letter continues by asking what tactics the Weinberg Group has used for chemicals such as BPA.

In January, Dingell and Stupak launched an investigation into BPA, writing seven prominent manufacturers of baby food, as well as the Food and Drug Administration. Bisphenol A, which some scientists say could be linked with diabetes, cancer and obesity, may be used in material that lines the cans of infant formula and may leach into the baby food itself, exposing infants to Bisphenol A. The letters and other information on the BPA investigation are available online at:

View Bisphenol A Investigation Documents

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