Another victory for American consumers! On June 2, the state of California Senate voted to ban bisphenol A (BPA) from the packaging of baby food and beverage products. You remember BPA, right? It’s that carcinogenic, endocrine disruptor compound found to leach out from plastic bottles (including baby bottles!) and food packaging (including baby formula!).

Well, it seems that the Toxics-Free Babies and Toddlers Act (SB 797) of California will finally put an end to the use of this chemical in the manufacture of plastics and plastic-containing products. At least until the Act goes through the State Assembly. The legislation is also known as the Pavley Bill as it was introduced by Senator Fran Pavley.

The industry lobbyists did try their best to sway the Senate’s decision in their favor but it the end, the Senate members acted rationally based on the mounting scientific evidence that BPA is detrimental to our health. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), research studies have linked BPA exposure to the following diseases and health problems:

• Breast cancer

• Heart disease

• Birth defects

• Prostate cancer

• Infertility

• Premature puberty in girls

• Diabetes

• Obesity

California is the not the first state to ban BPA. Earlier this year, Minnesota, then Connecticut set the precedence. It is expected that more states will follow. This is despite the fact that the US FDA has declared the levels of BPA in the food and beverages are very low and considered to be harmless.

As Breast Cancer Fund Gretchen Lee Salter policy manager rightly said “…kids had to come first before the lobbyists.” Indeed, with the Pavley Bill, this is exactly what happened.

It was “a major public health victory” according to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in a press release. He is referring to the pledge made by America’s top six baby bottle companies to stop using Bisphenol-A (BPA) in their manufacturing process of baby bottles.

He has the right to feel elated as many other anti-BPA advocates in North America. If we backtrack, BPA was a big thing last year when it was found out that this chemical used in the manufacturing of polycarbonate plastics is leaching out into the drinks and other food products. The Canadian regulatory body Health Canada made the unprecedented move to ban BPA in baby bottles in autumn last year. However, the US FDA claimed that BPA concentrations present in food products are too low to cause any real harm despite “concerns” expressed in a report by the National Institute of Health’s National Toxicology Program. According to the NTP report, BPA exposure may have possibly affect reproductive, neurological and immune systems. Other studies have linked BPA to cardiovascular disease, kidney problems, and diabetes.

However, the BPA issue was overshadowed by the melamine scandal and more recently by the peanut butter recalls.

Blumenthal and his counterparts in the states of Delaware and New Jersey wrote a letter to the baby bottle companies last year urging them to stop using BPA. The good news was received earlier this month. Six companies – Avent, Disney First Years, Gerber, Dr. Brown, Playtex and Evenflow – voluntarily agreed to phase out BPA from their manufacturing process of baby bottles and sippy cups.

Hurrah! This is one health issue where North America is far ahead of Europe!

In the city of Zhuhai in southern China, the deputy mayor has banned Christmas trees and other flammable Christmas decorations from public places including shopping malls, stores and restaurants because he says that they are dangerous and a fire hazard.

Those places that do not follow the ban will be threatened with closure. This has obviously led to some dissatisfaction, especially as there was not sufficient warning and therefore shops have already bought their trees and decorations and are now not allowed to use them.

Further Information

Would this put a damper on your Christmas shopping?