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Oregon lawmakers are expected to vote on a bill that would ban the chemical Bisphenol A, or BPA, in containers that young children drink from. Some industry groups oppose the move and others think the FDA should be the one to regulate BPA and other chemicals.
A few states (and cities such as Chicago) have passed various kinds of BPA bans. Washington is also considering one. Recently, the FDA expressed "some concern" about the chemical, and there are bills in Congress that propose a a much wider ban than the one in the Oregon legislature.
Do you look for a "BPA-free" label when you buy bottles or sippy cups? Are you a retailer who carries these products? What concerns do you have about Bisphenol A? Should regulating chemicals like BPA be left to the federal government?
GUESTS:
- Renee Hackenmiller-Paradis: Program director for Oregon Environmental Council
- Joe Gilliam: President of the Northwest Grocery Association
- Margie Kelly: Communications director with Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Coalition
- Michael Potter: CEO of Eden Foods
Tagged as: children · environment · politics · special session
Photo credit: thesoftlanding / Creative Commons
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This is exactly what I do as well. I can't imagine trying to put my baby in a situation where they could get hurt and that includes chemicals. I try to make sure my baby eats right and is safe, both of which BPA doesn't help. My child's sippy cup should'nt be what worries me in my life. I'd rather worry about my post pregnancy tummy and paying the bills. I love my children and want the best for them. That's all there is to it.
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As with trans-fats and many other hazards of modern life, I prefer clear labeling and good information to bans.
As a society, I think we rely to much on others to make us safe instead of learning a little judgment. And we are inconsistent in our risk-prevention applications anyway. We don't ban alchohol or cigarettes or even thin film plastic bags, the components of which are showing up everywhere. We don't even THINK about banning gasoline which puts way more proven-to-be dangerous chemicals into the air we breathe.
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I agree. I really wish labelling was more of a priority for the states and for the FDA. We have the right to know what we buy!
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YES please get rid of BPA and other strange things in our environment that our bodies absorb. I try to avoid BPA in stuff whenever I can.
It is also in the lining of most canned food.
Why should we have to play Russian Roullette with every thing in our house? -
I am grateful for OEC's efforts on BPA at the state level, which I do believe is spurring change at the federal level. After hearing a Portland author speak at Powell's and reading her book "The Body Toxic" by Nena Baker, I learned that federal reforms are needed to ensure that we are protected from not just BPA but other hormone-disrupting chemicals (phthalates, PFOA, flame retardants) commonly found in consumer products.
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Has Eden Foods explored the use of Tetra Paks for their tomato products? I understand that those products are the only canned products lined with BPA. Is that understanding correct?
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Above I meant the only Eden Foods lined with BPA are tomatoes(I understand that isn't true for all food companies). I also think a ban on bottles/cups/etc is a start, but to not ban on foods that kids frequently eat would also be a step in the right direction to lower childhood exposure.
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I dont even eat canned foods anymore because of the plastic lining. I feel that we are making ourselves sick with all of these chemicals and wont know it for 20 years. Our grandkids will think "I can't believe people used to use those chemicals!" the same way we are horrified by arsenic for example.
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We home can and are cocerned about BPA being used in home canning lids,
The only way we found to home can without BPA is to buy all glass German made Weck jars at about $8.00 each.
Has any research done on how and when BPA is more apt leach in to our food?
Thanks for bringing it up!
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What people don't realize about the "alternative packaging" is that many of those alternative plastics are not fully tested. We're simply going to be trading one toxic product for another "unknown."
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Why is our govenrment mettling in petty things like this during their special session?
Let a reduction in market demand force the manufacturers to stop using BPA Let the government actually try to acomplish something meaningful with the special session, like reducing unemployment or improving our tax structure.
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We rarely use foods that come in metal cans, yet had the occasion to do so recently. We noticed the entire inside was lined with a whitish substance. Is this BPA? How does one find out? And what effect does that have on foods, especially acidic products such as diced tomatoes?
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I want to mention, since the news stories about taxes and your story on BPA were more or less juxtaposed this morning, that we can't have it both ways.
If you want lower taxes, then you want less of this kind of protection. No more banning, no more enforcement, no more testing, no more publicly funded research. Take your chances that corporations which work SO much more efficiently than government will have our best interests at heart.
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There was a great article in Fast Company (http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/132/the-real-story-on-bpa.html) on how the plastics industry has prevented BPA from being banned, despite plenty of real science pointing to real dangers. It is a very sad indictment of how our regulatory agencies function.
Hopefully, these bills will lead to banning all BPA in food containers. Time to go back to glass and tin in our canned goods containers.
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I live under the precautionary possible whenever possible. I will not use ANY "baby" products or food service/storage containers which contain BPA. I no longer purchase soda, and I am weaning off canned foods except Eden organic foods.
It is appauling to me that this chemical is allowed to be used when there are alternatives.
I am happy to hear that the FDA is at least acknowledging 'some concern'.
I am also thrilled that the likes of WalMart will not sell products containing BPA. I have not had a tough time finding products that do not conatain BPA and any fractional increase in cost is worth it when considering the potential harm caused.
I am extremely grateful to Andrea Durbin and OEC for the efforts put forth to eliminate BPA in children's products.
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For polycarbonate water bottles, does the amount of BPA leaching reduce over time, or does it continue to do so significantly over the life of the bottle or container?
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Kudos for the wonderful nonprofits working to get this legislation passed! While not eradicating this nasty endocrine disruptor from our food supply, it is at least a step in the right direction for younger children. Like Deca-flame retardants, once more states and cities ban these toxic chemicals, it is more likely the federal government and industry will pay attention and do something about it.
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When the controversy on this started we just cleared out all the plastic in our homes for the children. We are stainless steel and glass. I nursed the babies so didn't have that concern with the baby bottles but I did notify my sister who had hand me down bottles to just recycle them and get new. We also just don't buy bottled water.
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I absolutley look for products without BPA. I stay away from plastics as much as possible ever since Nalgene bottles were taken off the shelf a couple years ago. This occured while I was pregnant and I was concerned about developmental complications in my baby as well as it's cumulative effect of adults.
I later discovered BPA is in the lining of canned food (except Eden Foods) and that canned tomatoes are the worst! I decided to ramp up my canning efforts to provide safe food for my family. Then I discovered BPA is on the inside of home canning lids! During the canning process, the BPA leaches into the food. This is the worst news because there aren't affordable alternatives for those of us who can a lot of food at home.
BPA should be banned in all products. It is totally possible to get rid of it.
Read Eden foods website to find out why they won't use BPA lined cans.
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Specifically, how much BPA is in the lining of a food can? Is the lining pure BPA, 10% BPA, 1/100% BPA? What levels of this chemical are you discussing? If the can is unlined is it more harmful than a lined can.
If I drink water from a stainless steel bottle am I exposed to harmful chemicals that make steel stainless?
Please discuss specifics and tradeoffs. I have heard very few hard facts in this discussion.
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As a parent, I've heard about BPA for years. But I have rarely heard anyone address the specific consequences. Are there studies or cases that have proven the negative endocrine effects? and what are those effects?
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it seems to me that if we are to be asked to vote for a ban on something proported to be unsafe, the most important ingredient in our decision should be evidence of its danger. other than the FDAs somewhat weak concern, what is the scientific evidence for its toxicity, and how good is that evidence?
next, i would want to know the cost, if any, of banning BPA. if the cost is next to nothing, ie there is a readily available economically equivalent alternative, even a very weak concern may warrent its ban; but if there is a real cost to the alternative, we should require fairly robust evidence.
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One other comment/question - I would like to hear if the aseptic containers like Pacific Foods use are better on the BPA front. Thanks.
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Listening to this discussion has made me heartsick. As moms of a 4 year old and eight-month-old my partner and I have made every effort to avoid BPA and pthalates, have bought organic and local food, and even run the tap a bit before washing sippy cups to avoid particulates from our water pipes and now we hear that infant formula containers have BPA???
Breastfeeding is not an option for us. Please let us know or post on your website the brands of formula that are stored in BPA-free containers.
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I understood Mr. Gilliam's position to back away from banning BPA in infant formula cans to be the concern over declining nutritional value of "black market" or "flea market" purchases.
What percentage of the population purchases black/flea market infant formula?
This is a red herring and sounds like someone has created a "public safety" issue to avoid having to do the right thing for the majority. The bottom line is economics. The status quo must be cheaper?
Christine in West Linn Oregon
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Calling the FDA an impartial 3rd party is ludicrous. Are their rcommendations really science based, or are they a watered down compromise of the profitability of the industry? Safe until proven unsafe is an unethical and irresponsible stance by the food industry. Giving customers food that has proven, or even potentially harmful chemicals leached into it honestly cannot be the best alternative. Until there is definitive evidence that what is done with food is safe, it should not be tested on consumers. Food needs to be viewed in a different light than the innocent till proven guilty mantra of the legal system. It is food, not a traffic violation, or even a widget that we unnecessarily demand.
My mom died of some rare unaccountable cancer in her liver, that likely came from years of filtering unknown toxins out of her system, that had yet to be classified as dangerous to the consumer. How many pieces of data like my mom will it take before producers and the rest of the food supply chain embrace their accountability to the end user above the profitability of their business.
Babies are important to watch out for, but what about the rest of us. Are pubescent teen age kids not at an endocrine relient stage of their life?
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If you don’t want BPA use… Glass.
More often then not it is the advanced materials that are the health threat!
Plastic, has no place in the food supply for any reason; it is simply dumb to be using a “petroleum” product in a largely unrecyclable and short life, ‘disposable product’!Of course I don't sell Plastic so...
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Lids on glass products often contain BPA lining.
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Hello,
The bill by no means goes far enough to protect the public from the health issues associated with BPA exposure. This does not address products being ingested by children and adults. The ommission of the baby formula is a travesty of justice!! The FDAs addmission of concern is the epitomy of an understatement in order to give manufacturers time to transition to other alternatives and give the public ample oppotunity to clear the poison products from warehouses and shelfs.
Below are some of the health affects scentists are concerned about but FDA has been ignoring for decades. Please review and followup on ourstolenfuture.com to view any of the studies below. Thanks.
- Experiments with rats demonstrate that low level exposure to bisphenol A during fetal growth causes breast cancer in adults.
- · Perinatal exposure to extremely low levels of bisphenol A causes precancerous prostate lesions in rats.
- · Experiments with mice reveal that chronic adult exposure to bisphenol A causes insulin resistance. Insulin resistance in people leads to Type II diabetes and congestive heart failure.
- · Bisphenol A at extremely low levels causes changes in brain structure and behavior in rats.
- · German scientists measured bisphenol A in the blood of pregnant women, in umbilical blood at birth and in placental tissue. All samples examined contained BPA, at levels within the range shown to alter development.
- · BPA induces changes in mouse mammary tissue that resemble early stages of mouse and human breast cancer:
- · · Low level BPA exposure stimulates rapid reproduction of breast cancer cells. Watch it happen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3_cYZKksvI
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Thank you so much for providing some solid background answers to basic questions . This program format often leaves those of us who have not studied the subject previously floundering .
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Let's not forget about aluminum bottles. We have recently been reminded that aluminum bottles contain a resin lining which has BPA. SIGG helped bring this to light when they were caught misrepresenting the presence of BPA in their "BPA free" bottles. It is likely "only" a small amount of BPA but for those of us seeking true BPA free products, any amount at all is too much.
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For coffee drinkers, I would urge everyone to seriously reconsider their method if they have a conventional drip/filter coffee making device. Nearly all of them have internal plastic piping system that contains BPA. Remember there is hot water regularly circulating through that system.
Alternatives: a good quality French Press with a glass carafe, a stainless steel stovetop expresso maker, or an old fashioned manually filled glass carafe filter coffee maker. (There is available one brand of high end filter coffee makers that feature all internal steel components. Of course their devices are considerably more expensive than all the common ones out there.)
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One such 'high-end' system is the once ubiquitous commercial grade Bunn coffee makers .
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Is Eden Foods the only canned beans manufacturer that uses BPA free cans?
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Okay so if we buy organic tomatoes and tomato sauce and they have BPA in the cans how can they be deemed organic?
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Good one !
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This Conservative idea of testing chemicals on live babies instead of the old Liberal idea of testing chemicals before they are placed in the public marketplace is just outrageous!
Over the last few years of Conservatives De-regulating or preventing Regulations, they have killed pets with melamine, killed babies with unsafe cribs, and now we know they have allowed unsafe chemicals in baby food.
Conservatism is killing our pets and babies, and it is long past time to stop them and throw them out of office.
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Writing to share my support for this bill, albeit limited . . .
It seems a no-brainer to ban BPA from not only ALL products but my goodness, certainly those products in contact with infants whose nervous systems are developing mightily every day.
There are numerous writings and studies that report that all human tissue sampled at this time shows measures of petrochemicals. This notion in general should give everyone pause. Petrochemicals are not only persistant (they remain in the environment) but they travel readily throughout the environment. So the arguement for labeling is rediculous because if the chemicals are produced then they will affect everyone in the environment. There are well known studies that show some of the highest levels of petrochemicals in polar bears at the Noth Pole. BPA in any product will affect all of us.
Read "Green Chemistry" and "The Body Toxic"
It's weird that you are asking Renee to prove the links between BPA and the associated disoders linked with contact with BPA as if you wouldn't naturally have the horror that comes up for me with the notion that fat loving petrochemicals bond to molecules in my body and absolutely do not belong there. Is there some cultural disease at work where we are to be critical of our human instincts for health simply because commercial interests ask us to question our own instincts?
Is it not sick that representatives of industry stand in the way of legislation that will promote health for children (and all of us). How did we get to this place? To fear change because someone might lose money or in reality refuses to incorporate the creativity to change their own business model to continue to make money without placing consumers at risk.
So yes, my goodness, let's get to the business of banning BPA and then quite swiftly let's get to the business of banning all petrochemicals at least in contact with food. We have the technical creativity and we have alternatives. Where is EPA? Where is the FDA? Seems like as a culture we have been castrated by monied interests.
Just amazing to me even that you are hosting a pro or con discussion about BPA baby bottles. Is even OPB disabled by commercial intersts? Sad, sad day.
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Prevention talked to the people at the forefront of food safety and asked them one simple question—“What foods do you avoid?”—we got some pretty interesting answers--their answers are, well, food for thought:
1. Canned Tomatoes
The expert: Fredrick vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A
The problem: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people's body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. "You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that's a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young," says vom Saal. "I won't go near canned tomatoes."
The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe's and Pomi.
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My husband and I are Oregonians and have been concerned about the use of plastics in baby bottles and sippy cups for a few years now. We searched the market for suitable alternatives and the only thing available seemed to be glass. Considering glass is so fragile and not allowed in most daycares, we decided then that we wanted to start a stainless steel baby bottle company. So, a month ago, we launched Eco Baba (www.ecobaba.biz). We have a website up where you can purchase the bottles and we are in several boutiques in Portland and Bend. These bottles are made with 304 FDA approved stainless steel, are free of lacquers that other stainless steel bottle manufacturers use and are 100% recyclable. The only plastic used on our bottles is for the ring that holds the nipple. It's made of #5, BPA free plastic and designed so the liquid in the bottle doesn't contact the plastic. This is just the beginning for our company. Now that we are expecting our 2nd child, our quest for healthy alternatives has become more urgent and we truly hope that Oregon and the FDA see the light and eliminate BPA from all products ASAP.
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Well, Oregon Conservatives voted to continue testing BPA on live human babies. They voted against Regulating BPA.
So, it turns out that Conservatives are the Doctor Mengele of our time. You remember Doctor Mengele, don't you?
I had hoped that there would never again be a Doctor Mengele, but Conservatives have brought his practices back to life.
Shameful!
Our Greatest Generation would be outraged at the right wing extremists' restoration of the infamous Doctor Mengele. I sure am.
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I consciously choose BPA-free containers when I shop and generally try to avoid plastic if possible. I support this bill but certainly wish that the EPA would take a more strict stance in dealing with container additives. The FDA must approve the container that your bottle of drugs comes in to make sure that it doesn't contain "leachables" - why can't that occur for the materials that everyone uses on a daily basis?