The Food and Drug Administration has acknowledged concern for children exposed to the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, known mostly for its presence in baby bottles. While the FDA states the study will continue, it now agrees with the National Toxicology Program, stating “recent studies provide reason for some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children.”
Maryland efforts to prohibit BPA in baby bottles, infant food containers, and other products intended for children continue this winter in Annapolis. A bill sponsored by Delegate James Hubbard (D-23) passed the House of Delegates in 2009 but failed in a Senate committee. Delegate Hubbard is introducing the bill (HB 33) again this year in the House and is working this time with Senator Brian Frosh (D-16) in the Senate.
In its update, the FDA acknowledged it “is supporting reasonable steps to reduce human exposure to BPA, and also notes that infants are “a potentially sensitive population for BPA because their neurological and endocrine systems are developing,” and their ability to detoxify and eliminate “such substances as BPA is immature.”
While it is taking no regulatory action at this time, the FDA states that it supports industry and retailer initiatives to stop sales of infant bottles and cups with BPA, and recommends that parents “discard scratched baby bottles and infant feeding cups.”
“The FDA’s announcement acknowledges a concern, but takes no definitive action to protect the many infants and toddlers whose parents don’t have access to higher-end bottles and cups without BPA,” says Jenny Levin, an advocate with the consumer group Maryland PIRG. “Safe substitutes are available. The Maryland General Assembly should ban BPA and put our children’s health ahead of the interests of the chemical industry.”
