The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is launching an advertising campaign in US publications pointing to what it sees as a dismissal of bisphenol A (BPA) as a health threat.

Running in the daily newspapers USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and on consumer, news and health websites, the ACC ads encourage readers to "listen to the science" on the compound that is used in production of the engineering plastic polycarbonate as well as in epoxy resins used as can liners.

The chemical industry trade group cites a recently published study by the European Food Safety Authority, which it said shows that BPA poses "no health risk to consumers of any age group," as well as a recent response from the US Food and Drug Administration also affirming that BPA is safe.

The EFSA study looked at the role of bisphenol A as a possible endocrine disruptor and concluded that it was not. In its re-evaluation of an earlier opinion, the European food watchdog said it believes that exposure to the chemical at the currently tolerable daily intake (TDI) "poses no health risk to consumers of any age group," either from diet or a combination of other external sources such as thermal paper.

"Together, the EFSA and FDA reviews show that today's consumer products that rely on BPA are safe," the ACC ads say.

In 2012, the FDA banned BPA in baby bottles, but in the interim has taken action no further action to more broadly restrict its use.

Among the multitude of other scientific studies, a number have linked BPA to physical and behavioral problems, leading several US states to take regulatory action. Some plastics processors have developed "BPA-free" products.

Many of the new products contain bisphenol S, a variation of BPA, which some research says mirrors the endocrine-disrupting effects of BPA and could give rise to some of the same health concerns.

In a study published on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the University of Calgary found that BPS - as well as BPA - was connected to obesity, cancer and childhood anxiety and hyperactivity and also could cause changes in brain development of zebra fish found in Alberta's Bow and Old Man rivers.

Steven Hentges, who heads the ACC's Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group, questioned the relevance of "this limited study," which he said examines effects of relatively high concentrations of BPA on zebra fish embryos in water.