Federal regulators ignored evidence when concluding that a chemical found in plastic baby bottles was safe, revealed an expert panel which was asked to review the FDA’s handling of the issue.

According to a report released on Wednesday, officials from the Food and Drug Administration ignored evidence on the dangers posed by a chemical found in baby bottles made of plastic. The chemical in question is called BPA or bisphenol A and the excluded studies suggest that BPA could pose harm to children at levels at least ten times lower than the level that the agency deemed safe.

The review of the FDA’s handling of the controversial issue was conducted by a panel of external scientists who also criticised the agency for relying on three industry-sponsored studies to decide the safety issue related to bisphenol A. The panel of experts further found out that the FDA had significantly underestimated the amount of BPA babies might ingest from several sources.

Another government agency, the National Toxicology Program, stated that results from independent studies need to be considered before bringing out a safety decision related to BPA in baby bottles. Last month the toxicology program concluded that there was some evidence to show that unsafe levels of BPA altered development of brain, prostrate and behaviour in children as well as fetuses.