New Britain Herald - February 7, 2008
By SCOTT WHIPPLE, HERALD STAFF
HARTFORD — Public-health and science-based groups have called for an immediate halt to the sale and manufacture of bottles containing bisphenol A. The toxic chemical, also known as BPA, leaches from plastic baby bottles when heated, according to a study released Thursday by environmental-health organizations in the United States and Canada.
Some baby bottles tested for the study were bought at Target in New Britain. The Target manager declined to comment. Corporate headquarters in Minneapolis, Minn., did not return The Herald’s phone call Thursday. Sherwood said bottles sold in CVS and Wal-Mart elsewhere in the state also proved toxic.
“Toxics such as BPA in toys is a perfect example of how our federal regulatory system is broken and states such as Connecticut need to take the lead,” said New Britain resident Phil Sherwood, legislative director of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group. “We need to know how toxics are being used, and which products contain them; we need to require safer alternatives be used whenever feasible.”
Democrats in the state Legislature hope to pass the Toxic Toy Bill. It would replace toxic chemicals like BPA with safer alternatives where feasible in children’s products. State Rep. Peter Tercyak, D-26th District, is co-sponsoring the legislation.
State Sen. Ed Meyer, D-12th District, co-chair of the environment committee of the Connecticut General Assembly, called it “a priority of the environment committee this year to remove toxic chemicals [from] children products.”
Sherwood said parents are calling for the state to take the lead to better protect their children from toxic chemicals in common household goods. Nationally, dozens of groups are calling for an immediate moratorium on BPA in baby bottles and other food and beverage containers in the wake of the study’s results.
Results of the study, “Baby’s Toxic Bottle: Bisphenol A Leaching from Popular Baby Bottles,” commissioned by Environmental Defense of Canada and researched by the laboratory of Frederick von Saal, Ph.D., at the University of Missouri, contribute to a growing body of evidence that calls for immediate protective action to reduce public exposure to BPA, especially for infants and children.
“Animal studies provide strong evidence of a range of health damage linked to bisphenol A exposure, including breast cancer and other diseases,” said Laura Vandenberg, Ph.D., Forsyth Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology. “This is the same kind of evidence that initially raised a red flag for scientists around the safety of diethylstilbestrol (DES), now banned.”
BPA, a synthetic sex hormone that mimics estrogen, is used to make hard polycarbonate plastic. Ninety-five percent of all baby bottles on the market are made with BPA. The results of the U.S. study show that, when new bottles are heated, those manufactured by Avent, Evenflo, Dr. Brown’s and Disney/First Years leached between 4.7 and 8.3 parts per billion of BPA. Recent research on animals shows that BPA can be harmful by disrupting development at doses below these levels.
Studies conducted on laboratory animals and cell cultures have linked low doses of BPA to obesity, diabetes, thyroid disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer and other illnesses. BPA exposure is wide-spread and has been found in 95 percent of Americans tested. Scientists, physicians, and public health professionals suspect that existing scientific evidence on BPA indicates a real risk to human health.
“As parents, we can obviously look for safer products, including plastic baby bottles made without BPA or glass baby bottles,” said Chris Marolda, Berlin resident and father of two. “But the problem is broader than that. We need comprehensive solutions including new laws and an immediate moratorium on BPA, especially in products marketed to children.”
Annamarie Beaulieu, mother and spokesperson for Connecticut Public Health Association, said: “We know that children are most vulnerable to toxic chemicals early in life as their neurological system and organs are still developing. Prevention is key in keeping our children safe from the harmful effects of toxic chemicals. Preventive actions, including the elimination of children’s products containing toxic chemicals, are necessary during this critical period of a child’s development.”
There are no existing safety standards regulating BPA under U.S. laws, even for products used by infants and young children. Connecticut is one of nine states that have introduced legislation that would restrict the use of toxic chemicals like BPA in everyday products. Last week, the Massachusetts Senate passed “An Act for a Healthy Massachusetts: Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals.”
“BPA is known to change more than 200 human genes,” said Dr. Mark Mitchell, president of the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice. “Any known toxic chemical that does that, and has no safer alternative, should not be on the market.”
In addition to baby bottles, BPA is used to make hard plastic used in some toddler sippy cups, polycarbonate water bottles such as some Nalgene bottles, dental sealants, and the linings of many food and beverage cans, including all infant formulas. Patagonia and Whole Foods have stopped selling products containing BPA.
The full study is available to download for free on the Web site, www.babystoxicbottle.org. The Canadian version of the study is available at www.toxicnation.com.
Sherwood anticipates a committee vote in the next six weeks.
“We don’t want to be chemical phobic,” he said. “Chemicals make our lives better. We’ve had awesome advances because of chemicals, but there is overwhelming proof that these chemicals are dangerous. There are safer alternatives; we just have to require it.
Sherwood said to the best of his knowledge a safer bottle would not cost more to produce.
“Even if parents have to spend a few more cents a bottle, I think they’d be happy to do it,” he said.
Scott Whipple can be reached at (860) 225-4601, ext. 319.
