Protecting Kids from BPA
The estrogenic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) is used in products as diverse as receipts and dental sealants.
But it may be most problematic in the daily lives of babies, who can be exposed through baby bottles, sippy cups, the lids of baby food jars and canned ready-to-feed formula.
That's a lot of BPA for a small body, especially because early-life exposures are critical to later-life breast cancer risk.
Breast cancer isn't the only worry: BPA is also linked to prostate cancer, obesity, early puberty, cardiac disease and lowered sperm counts, even at low levels.
Senate Action
BPA is a problem for Americans of all ages, but babies are especially vulnerable. That's why legislators—and the Breast Cancer Fund—have fast-tracked efforts to get BPA out of young kids' products.
In January 2011, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced the Ban Poisonous Additives Act of 2011 (S136), a bill that will ban BPA from baby bottles, sippy cups, infant formula and baby food.
- Ask your Senators to co-sponsor Sen. Feinstein's BPA bill.
- January 25, 2011: Feinstein Introduces Bill to Ban BPA in Young Children's Products.
BPA is used to package food for adults, too. That's why we also support Rep. Edward Markey's (D-Mass.) bill that would eliminate BPA from all food and drink containers.
CLEAR SCIENCE
Age matters: Learn the three windows of exposure critical to breast cancer risk.
Timing of exposure >State Action
In 2011, 23 states plus the District of Columbia are taking on BPA, including Alaska, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Missouri, North Dakota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. California's law was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on October 4, 2011.
In the past few years, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, plus several localities including Chicago, have all banned BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups. Connecticut, Maryland and Vermont also restrict the use of BPA in infant formula and baby food.
Industry Opposition
Similar efforts by Sen. Feinstein in 2010 roused strong industry opposition, and corporate profits won out over public health. At the 11th hour of debate over the food safety bill, the chemical industry managed to make sure that the Senate blocked the inclusion of any BPA provision.
Markets Are Moving
BPA-free packaging alternatives exist and have been put to use—thanks to consumer demand—by leading manufacturers of baby bottles, as well as formula makers Similac (an Abbott Laboratories brand) and Nestle Gerber, which have already switched to BPA-free packaging for their powdered infant formulas. Yet these same companies continue to use BPA in their liquid formula packaging.
The key with alternatives is that they really need to be safer—which means more rigorous testing than the law now requires. For now, glass and stainless steel continue to be the safest options for bottles.
Other Government Action
Canada announced in April 2008 that it would ban BPA in baby bottles and restrict its use in infant formula cans. Denmark banned BPA from all infant feeding and food packaging. Even China has promised to ban BPA from baby bottles.
Related Blog Posts
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04.18.12
If the food's in plastic, what's in the food? (Washington Post, 4/16/2012)
Scientists are beginning to piece together data about the ubiquity of chemicals in the food supply and what they're finding has some health advocates worried.
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03.30.12
FDA Won't Ban BPA Chemical in Packaging (ABC News, 3/30/12)
As we've been reporting, we've been waiting (and waiting) for the FDA to respond to a 2008 petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council to declare the toxic chemical BPA unsafe and ban it from food packaging.
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03.16.12
Pressure increases on FDA to ban BPA from food packaging
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration must be feeling the pressure to do something about BPA pretty intensely right now. And right it should.
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03.07.12
Under Pressure from Parents, Advocacy Groups, Campbell's Goes BPA-Free (Forbes, 3/5/12)
On Monday, we shared the news that our Cans Not Cancer campaign scored a huge victory: After months of pressure from our campaign, Campbell's Soup Company announced it will phase out the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in its can linings.
