Germany backs bisphenol A in baby bottles

Foodproductiondaily: "Germany’s risk watchdog has become the latest official body to declare that bisphenol A (BPA) is safe for “normal” use in baby bottles and should not be banned.
The BfR, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, said it arrived at its conclusions after a review of the available scientific studies on the issue.

“Following careful examination of all studies, in particular the studies in the low dose range of bisphenol A, BfR comes to the conclusion in its scientific assessment that the normal use of polycarbonate bottles does not lead to a health risk from bisphenol A for infants and small children,” said the body in a statement."

FDA Slammed Over Pace Of BPA Study

Newsinferno: "JSOnline reported that millions of dollars are being unnecessarily dumped into more studies into the effects of BPA; given that an astounding number of studies—over 900—have been conducted and confirm the negative risks, the 33 BPA experts from the scientific community, find the multi-million dollar study redundant.

Most of the scientists hail from universities and recently sent a letter to Margaret Hamburg, the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with accusations that the agency is dragging on the issue and endangering consumer health, said JSOnline."

BPA Will Likely Be On Washington State List Of Toxins

news inferno: "According to officials in Washington State, a hiring freeze and budget cuts were blamed, as was the challenge in whittling down a list of thousands to those 50 most harmful to children, said the AP. “It’s been quite a bit harder than we anticipated,” said Carol Kraege, the state’s toxics policy coordinator. “We are late, and we’re doing as much as we can do,” quoted the AP. Maine, Connecticut, and Minnesota have put forth similar legislation, said the AP.

Representative Mary Lou Dickerson (Democrat-Seattle), lead sponsor of the law in Washington State, said that bisphenol A—BPA—will likely be one of the toxins named, reported the AP. Mercury will also probably make the list; however, because they are federally regulate, lead and phthalates will not, pointed out the AP."

Effort to ban BPA in California fails

The Mommy Files: "California State Senator Fran Pavley (D-Santa Monica) was convinced by the research indicating that BPA is a harmful substance, and in February she introduced a bill (SB 797) to ban it from feeding products designed for children under 3 years old, starting in 2011. The bill passed the Senate in June. It was favored by the Assembly 35-32, but last week it did not garner the 41 votes necessary to clear the Assembly. The bill will be reconsidered in 2010."

Members of the Assembly who voted no on the bill point to California's Green Chemistry Initiative, a bipartisan agreement intended to create a process to phase out chemicals known to cause harm. They believe the BPA ban tried to short-circuit the process that legislators agreed to follow.

"I would like to see the process that we all agreed upon to play out," Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries (R-Riverside) says. "Simply because another country says it doesn't like this chemical doesn't mean we should feel obligated to ban it too. We created the Green Chemistry initiative to take politics out of this and to really look at the science. If there is a need for further scientific review of BPA in California, the open and transparent process under the initiative will provide what is needed to protect the health of all Californians."

Group to ask for ban on chemical in plastics

post-gazette.com: "The Rachel Carson Homestead Association today will ask Pittsburgh and Allegheny County leaders to support a ban on the synthetic chemical bisphenol-A found in plastic children's products like baby bottles, sippy cups, canned foods and drinks and some toys.

The ban would apply to all products that contain the endocrine-disrupting chemical commonly known as BPA that contacts the mouths of babies and young children.

Dr. Patricia DeMarco, Rachel Carson Homestead Association executive director, called for the ban and development of a substitute material without BPA's dangerous effects at the third annual Rachel Carson Legacy Conference titled 'When Chemicals Disrupt: Managing Our Risk' in the Bidwell Center on the North Side.

'The ban of BPA in children's products presents significant public safety issues which have not been solved in other venues,' said Dr. DeMarco. She said her association will convene a committee of business, academic and health professionals in Pittsburgh to provide recommendations for a BPA ban that can be practically and sustainably implemented."

Stop using babies as lobbyists

FP Comment: "Next, the benefits of a chemical product must be clearly communicated. Here again, Health Canada has improved its approach from the communications paralysis that initially afflicted the department during the bisphenol A communications debacle in April of 2008.

A month later, common sense returned to the file with the government stating: “The current scientific evidence indicates that the general public need not be concerned as levels of BPA present in food do not pose a health risk. Epoxy resin can linings containing bisphenol A provide an important safety function by protecting the quality of food and beverages (i.e., prevents corrosion of the can material and prevents reactions between the food and the can material).”"

EPA plans closer scrutiny of chemicals in products

STLtoday.com: "In addition to legislative changes, the EPA will use existing regulatory power to launch new reviews of 'priority' chemicals that the agency could ultimately restrict or ban. Among those are bisphenol A and phthalates. Bisphenol A, or BPA, is a plastic-hardening chemical. Phthalates, a substance that adds flexibility and durability, is used in everything from glues to medicine coatings to vinyl upholstery. Both are associated with disrupting hormone production."

While the EPA's goals seem to cover very basic ground, environmental health advocates say the move is evidence that the nation's chemical regulations under the TSCA -- sometimes pronounced "tosca" -- are obselete.

"The system we have now assumes that chemicals are innocent until proven guilty," said Jane Houlihan, senior vice president for research at Environmental Working Group in Washington, D.C. "These reforms introduced today would flip that."