Restrictions on Bisphenol-A (BPA) in Children's Products Shines Light on Greater Problem

In the past few weeks, Minnesota and Connecticut became the first states in the country to pass laws eliminating bisphenol-a from products intended for use by children, including baby food cans and jars, "sippy" cups, and baby bottles. Connecticut's law stretched even further, protecting a full range of reusable food and beverage containers.

In March, Suffolk County, NY became the first jurisdiction in the country to disallow BPA within county limits. Shortly thereafter, Chicago became the first U.S. city to ban BPA, with a unanimous vote of its city council.

Twenty states and four localities have proposed bans on BPA based on concerns that the ubiquitous chemical harms human health. Last week, the California state senate narrowly approved a bill similar in scope to Connecticut's. Bills proposing bans are also pending in Michigan and New York.

More than 200 studies have found that low dose exposures to BPA are linked to heart disease and cancer, as well neurological, immunological, and reproductive problems. Even surprisingly low doses of BPA - parts per billion, or even parts per trillion - have been shown to cross the placenta and disrupt normal prenatal development. This reinforces the need for a BPA phase out that protects parents of child-bearing age from coming in contact with the hazardous chemical.

BPA has become a symbol of a larger problem at hand. Chemicals are not required to be tested for safety for humans and the environment before they are allowed on the marketplace, even when used in food, food containers or cosmetics.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), broadly criticized by its own advisory board and other health experts for basing its August 2008 determination that BPA is safe only on studies funded by the chemical industry, has been forced to reconsider its position on the issue. Among other serious flaws noted by the advisory board: the industry- funded studies did not consider newborn exposure and health in their assessment, and the studies ignored basics like increased BPA leaching from baby bottles when parents sterilize or warm formula.

A 2004 study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Minnesota Department of Health, and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency found that an array of chemicals used in plastics, cosmetics, household cleaners, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals that are detectable in surface, ground, and drinking water. BPA was just one of these chemicals. USGS studies have found chemicals in water across the country, and yet we do not know the appropriate levels of environmental or human exposure for many of them.

"Parents should be able to trust that the products they buy for their children are safe," said Cindy Luppi, Chemical Policy Analyst with Clean Water Action. "However, the fact that there are dangerous chemicals in baby bottles highlights a much broader issue."

Clean Water Action praises Representative Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) and Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Califiornia) for their leadership in filing a comprehensive bill to phase out BPA from all food and beverage containers.

"Ridding children's products of BPA is an important step," Luppi continued, "but we need a better system to protect our communities, our water, and our health than banning chemicals, after we realize their hazards. "