BPA update: Victories in Maryland, Vermont and BPA-free cans

It has only been a few weeks since we have updated you on the fight against Bisphenol-A (BPA) , but we have a lot of news to report. BPA is the ubiquitous chemical that is in hard plastics, can liners, register receipts and baby products and is known to cause health effects including impaired brain and reproductive development in unborn babies, miscarriage in pregnant women, diabetes, obesity and cancer.

Vermont moves toward a ban

Environmental health advocates in the state of Vermont are working to pass a ban against BPA. The proposed bill would ban the manufacture, sale or distribution of canned infant formula, bottled infant formula, plastic baby containers, and reusable food and beverage containers containing BPA.

The bill has passed both houses, and the Governor has indicated that he will most likely sign the bill if it passes through the House. Today, it passed through the state House by a margin of 127-1, once again showing that there is wide and bi-partisan support for BPA bans.

"This is just one of those chemicals that have been used in the plastics industry that probably should have been better evaluated before it was put into broad use." - Vermont State Senator Virginia Lyons, D-Chittenden, lead sponsor of Vermont's bill.

Maryland ban signed

Maryland has banned BPA from baby bottles and sippy cups, protecting one of the most vulnerable populations from this harmful chemical. The bill passage was notable for its bi-partisan, nearly unanimous support in both houses. The bill will go into effect in 2014.

BPA-free tomato cans

General Mills announced last week that it will be removing BPA from its Muir Glen Organic line of tomatoes in "the next tomato harvest." While some can liners are BPA-free (like the Eden Organic line of beans), manufacturers have been having a difficult time getting BPA out of tomato cans -- the acidity of tomatoes requires a different type of lining than most products. This move toward BPA-free by General Mills was stunning to many of us, as General Mills has taken the stance for years that BPA is safe, and that they would not be removing BPA from its linings. General Mills, in the end, bent to public interest. While they still contend that BPA is safe, they say

"... we know that some of our consumers would like us to pursue alternatives -- and we are working with our can suppliers and can manufacturers to develop and test alternative linings that do not use BPA."

Illinois ban moving toward a vote

Illinois' BPA-Free Kids Act is looking to ban BPA from baby bottles, infant formula cans, and baby food jars by 2015. The bill is currently is the Senate Subcommittee on Children’s Health Issues, and we're hoping that it continues to move through both houses of the legislature.

Major press about the concerns over BPA

Everywhere we turn, the mainstream media has been discussing the health concerns over BPA. In a major story about chemicals in plastics titled, "The Perils of Plastic," Time magazine asks readers to "switch to glass products when possible," citing health effects such as endocrine disruption which can lead to cancer and genital defects.

In an article by Dr. Gary Ginsberg posted on Dr. Oz's website, readers are asked to wash their hands constantly because BPA from cash register and ATM receipts can get into our systems.

We'll leave you with an excerpt from an op-ed piece in the April 2010 magazine, Scientific American. The article aimed to ask Congress to give federal authorities greater control over toxic substances via the Safe Chemicals Act:

"BPA is a case study of what has gone wrong. Although scientists identified potential problems decades ago, regulatory changes have been slow to follow. First synthesized in 1891, the compound became essential to the plastics industry as a building block of the polycarbonates in our eyeglass lenses, the polyesters in our clothes and the epoxy resins lining our cans.

In the 1930s BPA was identified as a potent mimic of estrogen; it could bind to the same receptors throughout the human body as the natural female hormone. But the Toxic Substances Control Act explicitly allowed chemicals already employed at the time of the law’s passage—BPA and more than 60,000 others—to continue to be used without any evaluation for toxicity or exposure limits."

Further Reading

State considers ban on products with BPA. Burlington Free Press, 04/25/10.
Maryland gov signs bills focusing on health care. Business Week, 04/13/10.