Tag: BPA

FDA Bans BPA in Baby Bottles

FDA Bans BPA in Baby Bottles

by Becky Striepe

Yesterday was a huge win for  families who have been lobbying for years to get toxic BPA out of baby bottles  and sippy cups.

The FDA announced yesterday that it’s going to ban BPA in children’s drinking  cups or bottles. Surprisingly, the American Chemistry Council – an industry  advocacy group – asked for the FDA ban, because consumer confidence in plastic  children’s products was dropping. Most manufacturers of baby bottles and sippy  cups were phasing out BPA before the ban came down today.

BPA is an endocrine disruptor and possibly linked to a wide range of health concerns from intestinal  inflammation to breast cancer. What’s important to remember about the FDA ban is  that it only affects baby bottles and children’s sippy cups, and you can find  BPA in a wide range of other products like:

  • Some types of plastic food storage containers
  • Soda cans
  • Cans that hold food like beans and veggies
  • Receipts
  • Some canning jar lids

The FDA ban does not address any of the health issues associated with BPA.  Instead, the ruling states that it is banning BPA in sippy cups and  baby bottles “because these uses have been abandoned.”

While some are applauding the ban on BPA in baby bottles and children’s sippy  cups, many consumer advocacy groups are saying that this ban does not go far  enough. What do you think about the FDA ban on BPA?

Source: New York Times

Is There Plastic In My Food?

Is There Plastic In My Food?

  • Katie Waldeck

Plastics are everywhere. They’re in our homes, clothes, cars, toys, and, alarmingly, they’re on our dinner plates. Researchers have confirmed that potentially harmful chemicals from plastics are in the nation’s food supply, which make their way into the human body.

A study published in Environmental Health Perspectives named plastic food packaging as a major source for these chemicals. Families were given food that was certifiably plastic-free for three days, and researchers compared the levels of chemicals found in plastic in their bodies.

The results were astounding: participants saw an average 2/3 drop in the levels of bisphenol A (BPA) present in their bodies. The controversial chemical has been linked in higher rates of cancer, heart disease, and a variety of reproductive health issues. Though BPA is banned in Canada, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently rejected a ban on the chemical.

The FDA’s system of measuring the concentration of chemicals is a major cause for concern here — in short, it doesn’t stack up with the decades of scientific research that shows even the lowest amounts of BPA can affect the human body.

Moreover, the FDA relies on manufacturers to self-report their initial data about their products, many components of which aren’t manufactured by the manufacturers themselves. These results aren’t made public.

As Janet Nudelman of the Breast Cancer Fund told the Washington Post, “It doesn’t make sense to regulate the safety of food and then put the food in an unsafe package.”