Governor Calls for BPA Action
Posted on Mar 3, 2010 | Comments (0)
Yesterday, Governor Deval Patrick announced new progress on the phase-out of BPA baby products. He directed the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) to prepare a regulation to ban the sale of household products containing BPA. The Boston Globe published a great story today on the Governor’s announcement. This is a big step forward towards protecting the health of all developing children!
We have all worked so hard over the past two years to get to this point. Thank you so much to everyone who helped thus far. Thousands of parents across the state have expressed outrage that they unknowingly fed their infants a hormone disrupting chemical in their baby formula and your voice has been heard.
But it’s just the first step, and there’s a piece missing because the Governor stopped short of calling for a ban on all food and beverage products for which there are safer alternatives, such as infant formula packaging..
AHT will continue to urge swift and strong action from the Patrick Administration. Once the draft regulation has been written by the DPH, it will be presented before DPH’s Public Health Council (PHC) on May 12th. After that, there will be a public comment period, including public hearings and then the PHC issues the final regulation.
AHT urges DPH to include infant formula and baby food containers, reusable bottles such as sports bottles, as well as baby bottles and cups in their regulation. Connecticut led the way last year by passing a bill that phased BPA out of these products and our goal is to match the health protective standard of our neighboring state. Most baby bottle manufacturers have already provided BPA-Free alternatives to their products in stores, so the regulation needs to go further to be most effective.
The chemical industry is pressuring elected officials around the country to hold off on BPA bans using a range of tactics. These include attacking the validity of well-established science practices such as animal-based research protocols that are standard in assessing safety, while simultaneously designing their own studies meant to find no effects from BPA exposure. The children and parents of Massachusetts deserve truly protective health decisions from Governor Patrick. Please stay tuned we will need your help soon!
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