The Food and Drug Administration infuriated environmentalists on Friday by denying a petition asking it to ban the controversial chemical Bisphenol-A, or BPA, from food packaging.

The Natural Resources Defense Council has been petitioning FDA to ban the chemical from food packaging – it’s used to make some polycarbonate bottles and to line cans – since 2008. It sued in 2011, and a District Court judge ordered FDA to answer by March 31.

On Friday, FDA declined and posted a statement saying that while the agency is concerned about BPA, there wasn’t enough evidence yet to justify radical action. “FDA is pursuing additional studies to address the uncertainties in the findings,” the agency said.

“The next decision the FDA should make is to remove ‘responsible for protecting the public health’ from its mission statement,” said Jane Houlihan, the Environmental Working Group's senior vice president for research. “Allowing a chemical as toxic as BPA, and linked to so many serious health problems, to remain in food means the agency has veered dangerously off course.”