Baby's Toxic Bottle
A study, commissioned by the Environmental Defense of Canada, “Baby’s Toxic Bottle: Bisphenol-A Leaching from Popular Baby Bottles,” (PDF) contributes to a growing body of evidence that calls for immediate protective action to reduce public exposure to bisphenol-A (BPA), especially for infants and children.
Studies conducted on laboratory animals and cell cultures have linked low doses of BPA to obesity, diabetes, thyroid disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer and other illnesses.
“As parents, we can obviously look for safer products, including plastic baby bottles made without BPA or glass baby bottles,” said Judy Robinson, Boston area mother of two.
“But the problem is more extensive than that and we need broader solutions including new laws and an immediate moratorium on BPA in food and beverage containers.”
Last week, the Massachusetts Senate passed a bill, An Act Providing for Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals (S-2481) that would replace toxic chemicals like BPA with safer alternatives where feasible. Advocates and legislators are calling for the bill’s swift passage in the House of Representatives to better protect Massachusetts families from toxic chemicals in common household goods.
Nationally, dozens of groups are calling for an immediate moratorium on the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles and other food and beverage containers in the wake of the study’s results.
In early 2007, investors began to raise concerns with baby bottle manufacturers about the potential reputational and legal risk this may pose to them and asked them to review alternatives to BPA. Boston Common Assets Management, a founding member of the Investors Environmental Health Network (iehn.org), has engaged Philips Electronics, Novartis and Playtex on this issue and are pleased that Philips has been looking at alternatives to BPA since January of 2007 including the feasibility of manufacturing a BPA-free baby bottle.
In addition to baby bottles, BPA is used to make hard plastic used in some toddler sippy cups, polycarbonate water bottles such as some Nalgene bottles, dental sealants, and the linings of many food and beverage cans, including all infant formulas. Patagonia and Whole Foods have stopped selling products containing BPA.
The full study, “Baby’s Toxic Bottle: Bisphenol A Leaching from Popular Baby Bottles,” is available as a PDF or for free on the website www.babystoxicbottle.org. The Canadian version of the study is available at www.toxicnation.ca.
