Preservative (synthetic phenolic antioxidant)
Also known as: BHA, Butylated hydroxyanisole, tert-Butyl-4-methoxyphenol, (1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-methoxyphenol, E320, CAS 25013-16-5
Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) is a synthetic phenolic antioxidant used as a preservative to prevent fats and oils in food from going rancid. It is commonly found in items such as cereals, chips, snack foods, butter, meats, baked goods, chewing gum, and food packaging, and is also used in animal feed and cosmetics.
Reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen. First listed in the Sixth Annual Report on Carcinogens (1991). [Listed] based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity from studies in experimental animals.
The U.S. National Toxicology Program officially lists BHA as 'reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen,' based on sufficient evidence of cancer in animal studies.
Butylated hydroxyanisole - Type of Toxicity: Cancer. Listing Mechanism: Authoritative Bodies (International Agency for Research on Cancer). Date Listed: January 1, 1990.
California lists BHA under Proposition 65 as a chemical known to the state to cause cancer; it was added to the list on January 1, 1990, on the basis of the IARC carcinogen classification.
There is sufficient evidence for the carcinogenicity of butylated hydroxyanisole to experimental animals. No data were available on the carcinogenicity of butylated hydroxyanisole to humans. Overall evaluation: possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B).
IARC classifies BHA as Group 2B, "possibly carcinogenic to humans": the Vol. 40 (1986) monograph found sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals and no available human data, and the Group 2B evaluation was confirmed in Supplement 7 (1987).
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