Trailblazing States Make Industry Cry "Uncle" on BPA

Bowing to pressure from state legislatures and a healthy consumer demand for safer products, the chemical industry announced today they are asking the FDA to eliminate bisphenol-a (BPA) from baby bottles and sippy cups. The industry, led by the American Chemistry Council, has mounted intense opposition to state and federal laws banning BPA.

The industry specifically cited the growing list of state laws banning the hormone-disrupting chemical from baby bottles and sippy cups as the reason for FDA to take action. Just this week California became the 11th state, joining Maine, New York, Vermont, Maryland, Minnesota, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Delaware and Washington to ban the chemical.

"Without forward-looking state action on BPA, we would still be waiting around for the federal government to act.", said Ivy Sager-Rosenthal, Campaign Director for the Washington Toxics Coalition. "It's our hope the chemical industry and the federal government will get behind meaningful reform of the nation's chemical laws. But until that happens, states are going to continue passing laws limiting BPA and other harmful chemicals in consumer products because consumers are demanding it."

Bisphenol-a is ubiquitous in our lives, and is found in canned goods, register receipts and dental sealants and is linked with health concerns including and behavioral impacts in young children, reproductive issues, diabetes, obesity and cancer.

With BPA now out of baby bottles and sippy cups, the states are now looking to protect even more people from the dangers of BPA; This year Connecticut led that charge by passing a law to remove BPA from register receipts, and other states are following suit.

BPA laws make up just a small number of state laws aimed at eliminating harmful chemicals. States have taken the lead in passing strong laws to regulate chemicals, particularly in consumer products, with 18 states passing 81 laws on chemicals in the last 9 years.