Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has reportedly launched an investigation into chemical and packaging lobbyists who allegedly sought to thwart regulation banning the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles, infant food jars and other products. Blumenthal is seeking details about a series of joint trade association meetings held in April and May 2009, during which industry officials purportedly discussed a public relations strategy to counter efforts to regulate BPA. According to Blumenthal, this “apparent campaign” aimed to use “fear tactics, political manipulation, and misleading marketing” to stymie BPA legislation pending in several state and local governments, including Connecticut. The attorney general has also called on the North American Metal Packaging Alliance (NAMPA) and other key stakeholders to denounce these efforts. “Colluding in a campaign of confusion and concealment – potentially endangering children and pregnant women – is appalling and possibly illegal,” Blumenthal was quoted as saying. “We are…
Tag Archives BPA
A Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study has reportedly found that “participants who drank for a week from polycarbonate bottles, the popular, hard-plastic drinking bottles and baby bottles, showed a two-thirds increase in their urine of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA).” Jenny L. Carwile, et al., “Use of Polycarbonate Bottles and Urinary Bisphenol A Concentrations,” Environmental Health Perspectives, May 12, 2009. HSPH researchers followed 77 participants who first minimized their BPA exposure for a week, then drank all cold beverages out of plastic polycarbonate bottles for seven days, during which time their “urinary BPA concentrations increased 69 percent.” According to the study authors, their work is the first to show that BPA leached from plastic bottles can result in “a corresponding increase in urinary BPA concentrations in humans.” The study also forbid washing the bottles in dishwashers or putting hot liquids in them, as “heating has been shown to…
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg has reportedly indicated that the agency will review its 2008 decision that bisphenol A (BPA) in children’s food and beverage containers is, for the most part, safe. An agency spokesperson has apparently indicated that a new decision on the chemical, which is also used to seal canned food containers, will be released within “weeks not months.” The action comes after House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) asked the commissioner to reconsider the agency’s decision in light of “longstanding questions about the scientific data relied on by FDA under the previous Administration, as well as new press accounts detailing the influence of industry lobbyists on FDA’s scientific analyses.” Waxman cites several Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel articles, based on agency emails and a leaked industry report of a public relations strategy meeting, apparently indicating that (i) “when FDA conducted its review of BPA,…
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…
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has published hazard identification materials for bisphenol A in advance of a July 15, 2009, meeting at which the agency will consider whether to list the substance under Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) as a chemical known to the state to cause reproductive harm. Written comments are requested by June 30, 2009. If bisphenol A is listed, manufacturers of products sold in the state containing the chemical will have to provide consumers appropriate warnings. The May 2009 draft of “Evidence on the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity of Bisphenol A” observes that the substance “is produced in large quantities for use primarily in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins . . . used in certain food and drink packaging.” According to the draft, detectable levels of the chemical “have been found in the general population.” While human studies are apparently “of…
A long-term study by the Mount Sinai Medical Center for Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research has reportedly suggested a link between childhood obesity and endocrine disruptors, including phthalates and bisphenol A. Part of a study titled “Growing Up Healthy in East Harlem,” the project followed 520 children ages 6 to 8 for five years in an effort to determine “how the area where the children lived affected diet, physical activity and risk for obesity.” Researchers apparently found that study participants had “higher levels in their urine of three endocrine disruptors – 2,5 DCP, MBP and MEHHP – than a national sample of children the same age.” According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, approximately 43 percent of East Harlem kindergarteners were also overweight or obese for their age in 2003. “The heaviest girls have the highest levels of phthalates metabolites in their urine,”…
Green Century Capital Management, an investment advisory firm focused on environmentally responsible companies, and As You Sow, an advocacy group that promotes corporate accountability, have issued a new report urging food and beverage manufacturers to stop using the packaging chemical bisphenol A (BPA) or risk possible repercussions in the marketplace. The report claims that 14 of the largest public packaged food and beverage companies still use BPA despite studies allegedly linking it to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and metabolic disorders. The report states: “Companies that move toward BPA-free packaging are being recognized as putting their customers’ health first, while other companies refusing to phase out BPA may find themselves punished in the marketplace.” In published reports, a Green Century director expressed concern about the lack of urgency the packaged food industry appears to have in addressing BPA. “Alternatives to BPA exist for many products. We believe companies should implement all feasible…
According to a news source, Health Canada is about to become the first country to formally place bisphenol A (BPA) on its toxic substances list and prohibit its use in baby bottles. An official announcement in the Canada Gazette is reportedly imminent, although nothing on the government agency’s website confirms this report. Health Minister Tony Clement said in 2008 that the government planned to take such action, calling the move “precautionary and prudent.” See Canada.com, April 14, 2009. Meanwhile, a legislative committee in Connecticut has apparently approved a bill (Raised Bill No. 6572) that would prohibit BPA’s use in products for children younger than age 3, such as baby bottles, infant formula cans and spill-proof cups, as well as in reusable food or beverage containers, beginning in October 2009. Jars, cans, bottles, or other food product containers could not contain BPA after October 2012. While the proposal still faces approval…
The 111th Congress is now on recess until April 20, 2009, but before legislators left Washington, D.C. for their district offices, they introduced several more bills relating to food safety, nutrition or wellness. They include: H.R. 1869 – Introduced April 2, 2009, by Representative James McGovern (D-Mass.), this bill would require the president to convene a “White House Conference on Food and Nutrition.” The main focus of the bill is addressing hunger and food insecurity. It has been referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. H.R. 1897 – Introduced April 2, 2009, by Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), this proposal would amend the Internal Revenue Code to give employers a tax credit for the costs of implementing workplace wellness programs that would have health awareness, employee engagement, behavioral change, and supportive environment components. Among the targets of the legislation are obesity and fitness. The bill, which has a companion in the…
In a letter to investors, a Sunoco spokesperson reportedly stated that the gas and chemical maker will not sell bisphenol A (BPA) to companies for use in food and beverage containers for children younger than age 3. Referring to the company’s plan to require customers to guarantee that BPA will not be used in this way, Sunoco’s head of public relations, Thomas Golembeski, was quoted as saying, “We will no longer sell BPA to customers who cannot make this promise.” Environmental advocates reportedly called the initiative a “sea change” for a company that once purportedly defended the chemical and appears now to be acknowledging concern about BPA’s safety. See Journal Sentinel, March 12, 2009.
