There’s big bisphenol A news coming out of Canada this week.
What is bisphenol A, you might ask, and why should we care what Canada has to say about it? Would you be more interested if I told you that bisphenol A is a harmful chemical that is almost assuredly in the systems of babies all over this country?
Bisphenol A, also referred to as BPA, is a chemical commonly found in food and drink packaging, including in cans of baby formula and even in baby bottles. At higher temperatures (read: those used when heating a baby bottle) the chemical is leached into a bottle’s contents (read: milk or formula). The chemical has been linked to early puberty in girls and prostate and breast cancer.
So where does Canada come in? According to newspaper reports from our northern neighbors, the Canadian health ministry is ready to declare BPA a dangerous substance. It would be the first example of a country making such a declaration.
Pressure is mounting for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to take similar action. A recent study by the National Toxicology Program, a branch of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, asks that the FDA “reconsider its view that the chemical bisphenol A is safe in products for use by infants and children,” according to news reports.
The National Toxicology Program’s study said: “There is some concern for neural and behavioral effects in fetuses, infants and children at current human exposures.”
The American Chemistry Council has weighed in with its spin, saying the NTP study confirms human exposure to BPA is extremely low and that there is no direct evidence that exposure adversely affects development in humans.
Doesn’t sound like a convincing argument that BPA is indeed not dangerous in any way. Really people, try any dangerous chemical you want, just make sure your exposure is extremely low and you’ll be all right. No thanks.
See the news report on the National Toxicology Program study here.
If you’re interested in safe baby bottles, you can go with glass or look for plastic bottles that specifically say they are BPA-free.
Also, see this NewsOK.com article: Nalgene to nix BPA bottles due to consumer concern
- Nick.
April 20th, 2008 at 12:01 am
Thanks for the information. It’s shocking.
According to the Wall Street Journal health blog, “Wal-Mart says it’s going to stop selling BPA baby bottles early next year, and the company that makes Nalgene water bottles says it will stop using the chemical as well.”
Wal-Mart, Nalgene Move Away From Bisphenol A
Just one more sad example of how we’re destroying both our environment and ourselves.