Overview
Most epoxy resins are built on bisphenol A (BPA). Because BPA can migrate from can linings and food-contact coatings, regulators have reassessed it. In Europe, that reassessment has led to a ban in food-contact materials, pushing coating makers toward BPA-free chemistries.
Key findings
- EU Regulation 2024/3190 bans the use of BPA and its salts in the manufacture of food-contact varnishes and coatings, plastics, printing inks, adhesives, ion-exchange resins, silicones and rubbers, and restricts other hazardous bisphenols. It entered into force on 20 January 2025.[1]
- Transition periods allow most single-use articles until 20 July 2026, and certain items, including some exterior-coated metal packaging and food-production equipment, until 20 January 2028. Narrow exemptions with migration limits cover some large epoxy-lined articles over 1,000 L.[1]
- In 2023, EFSA set a tolerable daily intake for BPA of 0.2 ng/kg body weight per day, roughly 20,000 times lower than its 2015 temporary value, based on immune effects in animal studies, and concluded that dietary exposure exceeded it.[2]
- A review of bio-based aromatic epoxy monomers notes that BPF and BPS show similar or greater toxicity concerns than BPA, so they are not clear-cut substitutes, and that several phenolic bio-based glycidyl ethers reached higher Tg than DGEBA.[3]
- Vanillin, obtainable from lignin, has been used to make a range of monomers including diepoxides as BPA-free building blocks.[4]
- Isosorbide-based epoxies matched or exceeded DGEBA in some mechanical properties but had lower Tg and absorbed far more water, limiting them in wet service.[5]
What it means in the field
For coating suppliers and specifiersCoatings for EU food contact (can linings, food tanks, silos and processing equipment) must move to BPA-free chemistry on the dates above. Check whether specific exemptions apply to large field-applied linings. Bio-based replacements involve trade-offs in Tg and water resistance, so verify performance for the service conditions.
References
- European Commission (2024). Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/3190 on the use of bisphenol A (BPA) and other bisphenols and bisphenol derivatives with harmonised classification for specific hazardous properties in certain materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/3190/oj
- EFSA CEP Panel (Lambré C, et al.) (2023). Re-evaluation of the risks to public health related to the presence of bisphenol A (BPA) in foodstuffs. EFSA Journal, 21(4), 6857. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2023.6857
- Ng F, Couture G, Philippe C, et al. (2017). Bio-based aromatic epoxy monomers for thermoset materials. Molecules, 22(1), 149. doi:10.3390/molecules22010149
- Fache M, Darroman E, Besse V, et al. (2014). Vanillin, a promising biobased building-block for monomer synthesis. Green Chemistry, 16(4). doi:10.1039/C3GC42613K
- Hong J, Radojčić D, Ionescu M, et al. (2014). Advanced materials from corn: isosorbide-based epoxy resins. Polymer Chemistry, 5(18). doi:10.1039/C4PY00514G
Citations were checked against publisher, DOI or agency records. Summaries are paraphrased; read the original papers for full methods and data.