Maryland considers ban on BPA in hearing today

baltimoresun.com: "At 2 p.m. today (Tuesday), the House Health and Government Operations Committee is scheduled to air HB33, which would ban the sale, manufacture or distribution of children's toys or child-care articles such as baby bottles made with bisphenol-A, or BPA. The bill, sponsored by Del. Jim Hubbard, a Prince George's County Democrat, would prohibit it by Jan. 10, 2011.

The plastic has been widely used as a lining in canned foods and some plastic water and baby bottles. For years, the Food and Drug Administration maintained it was safe, but amid growing scientific evidence of potential harm, the agency last month reversed course and declared concern about the effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and young children.

The agency now is pushing to end the use of BPA in baby bottles and infant feeding cups and is pressing for safer alternatives to line canned formula and other foods."