According to several news outlets, including the Chicago Sun Times, The Huffington Post, The New York Times, and USA Today, in a turn for the good, the City of Chicago has voted to ban the use of bisphenol-A (BPA) in baby bottles and sippy cups, to take effect on January 31, 2010.
This is great news for those of us with strong concerns about BPA, which hardens plastics often used in baby bottles, water bottles, and even in the lining of many of our canned goods. Canada banned it last year and the U.S. should follow suit and ban this as a step toward reducing the amount of plastics products humans absorb through food consumption. Grave concerns abound regarding BPA and at the very least, the EPA should test it out for safety.
Let’s hope New York City and California follow suit, hopefully with stronger bans on products that come into contact with food and water.
Here is a fact sheet from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) regarding BPA.
The Fact Sheet is not as harsh on BPA as, say, the wikipedia entry, which says in part, “Bisphenol A has low acute toxicity, with an oral LD50 of 3250 mg/kg in rats,[9] but it is an endocrine disruptor.[10][11] Low doses of bisphenol A can mimic the body’s own hormones, possibly causing negative health effects.[12] There is thus concern that long term low dose exposure to bisphenol A may induce chronic toxicity in humans.[13][14][15]“
That’s right, “endocrine disruptor”. But it gets better:
Early development appears to be the period of greatest sensitivity to its effects,[19] and studies have demonstrated developmental toxicity, carcinogenic effects, and possible neurotoxicity at low doses in animal models (see table below).[20][21] Recent studies suggest it may also be linked to obesity[22] by triggering fat-cell activity[23] and have confirmed that bisphenol A exposure during development has carcinogenic effects and produce precursors of breast cancer.[24][25] However, neither the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency[26] nor the International Agency for Research on Cancer[27] have evaluated bisphenol A for possible carcinogenic activity. Most recently, a study by the Yale School of Medicine demonstrated that adverse neurological effects occur in non-human primates regularly exposed to bisphenol A at levels equal to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) maximum safe dose of 50 µg/kg/day.[28][29] This research found a connection between BPA and interference with brain cell connections vital to memory, learning and mood.
Cancer. Cancer. More cancer. The Chicago City Council is right to protect babies. Canada has it even better, banning BPA altogether. The Chicago City Council’s brave step forward is one that we can all applaud as our industries will continue to face mounting pressure from large metropolitan areas, including Chicago and New York, and typically, the entire State of California, which all leads them to use other methods and chemicals in their production.
Granted, they often replace one plastic with another dubious, untested plastic and it’s up to consumers to reject this notion that we should keep using plastics to store our water, food, and other household items. It doesn’t biodegrade and it can off-gas or leach harmful chemicals into our air, water, soil, and bodies! Furthermore, you can only recycle it a finite number of times before it gets discarded anyway.
Stay ahead of both your governments and manufacturers by simply denying them of your dollars and sticking to glass and metal containers for your food and water consumption!
One last thing: Mayor Daley, please, sign that ban!
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