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Why and How to Act on BPA

Posted on Apr 1, 2010 | Comments (0)
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Baby Being Fed Next week, everyone in Massachusetts has a really important opportunity to make a difference and get BPA out of our children’s products. 

The week of April 5th, AHT is organizing a BPA Call-in-Week to Governor Patrick—and he needs to hear from you and your friends!

In preparation, here is a little reminder of why we’re so concerned about BPA.

The history of BPA: A hormone in the plastic

Bisphenol A or BPA was synthesized in a lab in 1891. In the 1930s, it was discovered that BPA mimics the hormone estrogen. It was not until the 1940s and 50s that the chemical was used to manufacture polycarbonate plastic (baby bottles, sippy cups, teethers, toys, pacifiers, water bottles and utensils to name a few) and epoxy resins (which line cans of baby formula and other canned foods). Today, BPA is a multibillion dollar industry and a countless number of consumer products contain BPA.


The multitude of Health Effects from BPA:

Over 90% of the hundreds of government-funded studies on low dose exposures to BPA have found health effects.1  Health problems linked to BPA include:


The US federal government is concerned, but has not acted yet

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP) recently stated that there is “some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children.” The NTP also stated that there is “some concern about the effects of BPA on mammary gland and advanced puberty.”  The U.S. Federal government has not taken action to regulate products containing BPA.

It’s in us

BPA was detected in the urine of 93% of the American population in a 2003-2004 study. Children were found to have the highest levels, then adolescents, then women and then men. In addition, high-income households were found to have the lowest levels of BPA.


What’s happening in Massachusetts:

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) has the legal power to phase-out the sale of toxic household products and can insist that the products on our store shelves are safer.  Connecticut has passed a strong law to replace BPA with safer alternatives in many products; we deserve the same in Massachusetts.


This March, Governor Patrick directed the DPH to draft a regulation on BPA in childrens products, but he only specifically mentioned baby bottles and cups, stopping short of directing DPH to include infant formula, baby food packaging, or reusable food and beverage containers, which must also be regulated to fully protect children. 

The DPH has announced that its draft regulation on BPA will go before its Public Health Council (PHC) on May 12th. PHC will have the final say on what products will be included in the products ban. However, Governor Patrick can continue to have influence over what the DPH staff proposes to the PHC, and the chemical industry opposition are already making their voices heard to the Governor.

The next step is to make sure that Governor Patrick hears from all of us who see the need for strong action on BPA health dangers!  So stay tuned and get ready to call the Governor and ask him to phase-out BPA products, not just baby bottles and cups, but infant formula cans and food and beverage containers.



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