Minnesota and Chicago Ban BPA in Baby Bottles
Minnesota and Chicago have reportedly become the first state and municipality to prohibit the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in plastic food and beverage containers intended for children ages 3 or younger. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) recently signed legislation (H.F. 326) that would prohibit the sale of these products in the state as of January 2010, although manufacturers can sell existing stock until early 2011.
Citing a failure by federal regulators to address this issue, the Chicago City Council has also approved a similar proposal that would take effect in 2010. Some research has purportedly linked BPA to developmental health problems, breast and prostate cancer in laboratory animals, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) previously ruled that the chemical does not pose any danger to children when consumed in minimal amounts. “The FDA continues to be very slow about taking any action on BPA,” stated Chicago Alderman Manuel Flores, one of the authors of the adopted proposal. See FoodNavigator-USA.com, May 12, 2009; U.S. PIRG, May 13, 2009; The New York Times, May 15, 2009;
In a related development, a recent study has claimed that prenatal exposure to low doses of BPA “causes infant male monkeys to behave more like infant females,” according to a May 11, 2009, synopsis published in Environmental Health News. A. Nakagami, et al., “Alterations in Male Infant Behaviors Towards Its Mother by Prenatal Exposure to Bisphenol A in Cynomolgus Monkeys (Macaca Fascicularis) During Early Suckling Period,” Psychoneuroendocrinology, April 2009. Researchers apparently used implanted devices to deliver BPA at doses of 10 micrograms per kilogram of body weight to female monkeys throughout their pregnancies, then observed the behaviors of their male and female offspring compared to a control group’s progeny. “Prenatal exposure to BPA altered the behaviors of male infants significantly,” the authors concluded. “BPA-exposed male infants behaved as female infants… These results suggest that BPA exposure affects behavioral sexual differentiation in male monkeys, which promotes the understanding of risk of BPA exposure in humans.
Meanwhile, a leading scientist with the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) has reportedly warned consumers that a cocktail of ubiquitous chemicals has led to a decline in male reproductive health. Richard Sharpe, an MRC principal investigator, has suggested that hormone disruptors found in everyday products and the environment may block the action of testosterone in the womb, resulting in a constellation of symptoms known as Testicular Dysgensis Syndrome (TDS). Commissioned by CHEM Trust, his report apparently relies on animal studies showing that BPA, phthalates and pesticides could increase the risk of birth defects, testicular cancer and falling sperm counts. “Because it is the summation of hormone-disrupting chemicals that is critical, and the number of such chemicals that humans are exposed to is considerable, this provides the strongest possible incentive to minimize human exposure to all relevant hormone disruptors, especially women planning pregnancy, as it is obvious that the higher the exposure the greater the risk,” Sharpe was quoted as saying. See BBC News, May 13, 2009.
