For Immediate Release Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Contact: Robin Mackar, NIEHS (919) 541-0073
NIEHS Awards Recovery Act Funds to Address Bisph
Researchers studying the health effects of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) gathered in North Carolina to launch an integrated research initiative to produce data that will allow for a comprehensive assessment of its possible human health effects.
Researchers who just received funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to study BPA were brought together to meet with scientists from academia and government already working on the compound. The meeting was held Oct. 6, 2009 at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).
The meeting is part of an effort to support human and animal research that will help determine if current exposures to BPA in the general population pose a potential health risk. NIEHS is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and has the lead in supporting research to study the potential effects that chemicals, such as BPA, may have on human health. President Obama allocated $5 billion in Recovery Act funds to the NIH, with about $14 million going to NIEHS for research on BPA.
"We know that many people are concerned about bisphenol A and we want to support the best science we can to provide the answers," said Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D., who serves as director of the NIEHS and the National Toxicology Program (NTP), an interagency program for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "Bringing the key BPA researchers together at the onset of new funding will maximize the impact of our expanded research effort."
NIEHS will invest approximately $30 million over two years on BPA-related research. This includes existing grants, the newly awarded Recovery Act grants and supplements, in-house research and NTP projects. The NTP effort is part of a larger five-year commitment to collaborate with the U.S. Food and D
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| Contact: Robin Mackar rmackar@niehs.nih.gov 919-541-0073 NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Source:Eurekalert |