Feds move to ban baby bottles with bisphenol A
Feds move to ban baby bottles with bisphenol A
Chris Wattie/ReutersBaby bottles free of the chemical bisphenol A are seen during a news conference with Canada’s Health Minister Tony Clement in Ottawa April 18, 2008.
OTTAWA — The government announced Friday that it intends to make Canada the first country in the world to ban baby bottles with the chemical bisphenol A.
Health Minister Tony Clement said the government plans to ban the import, sale and advertising of baby bottles with the controversial chemical, widely used in plastic baby bottles, water bottles, food containers and other products.
The government’s proposal is now subject to a 60-day public consultation period.
“I am announcing today that if no new relevant or compelling information comes forward during the public consultation period, it is our government’s intention to ban the importation, the sale and the advertising of polycarbonate baby bottles,” Mr. Clement, joined by Environment Minister John Baird, told an audience that included mothers and their children.
The announcement to classify bisphenol A as a toxin comes after a lengthy review of the chemical under the government’s Chemicals Management Plan. Recent research has shown that bisphenol A is an estrogenic hormone disrupter that causes reproductive damage and may lead to prostate and breast cancer in adulthood. Babies are particularly vulnerable, since most traditional plastic baby bottles leach bisphenol A into the milk they drink.
Mr. Clement said “most Canadians need not be concerned”about the health effects of bisphenol A, but that “this is not the case for newborns and infants.”
“We have concluded that early development is sensitive to the effects of bisphenol A,” said Mr. Clement. “Although our science tells us that exposure levels to newborns and infants are below the levels that cause effects, we believe that the current safety margin needs to be higher. We have concluded that it is better to be safe than sorry.”
The proposal does not include banning the sale, import and advertising of water bottles, Mr. Clement said.
The chemical is also used in the linings of canned food and beverages but again, Mr. Clement said that is not a concern for most Canadians based on the government’s assessment. Canned infant formula, however, is a concern and the health minister said the government will work with industry to reduce the amount of bisphenol A in the linings of cans and to find alternatives “as soon as possible.”
“In saying this, I want to be clear,” Mr. Clement said. “Even now, the nutritional benefits of canned infant formula far outweigh the risk of exposure to bisphenol A.”
Several major retailers — including Canadian Tire, Sears Canada, Wal-Mart Canada, Hudson’s Bay Company and Rexall Pharmacies — have already pulled products with BPA from their store shelves in anticipation of today’s announcement. Retailers say demand is drying up for baby products with the controversial chemical.
The plastics industry has petitioned Ottawa to keep bisphenol A on the market maintaining the chemical is a safe product and poses no health risk.
Mr. Clement said he is convinced that the government’s actions are “prudent and make good public health sense.”
The health minister said the government plans to do more research because there are still unanswered questions about the chemical. The planned research will focus on mothers, unborn babies and infants to better determine at what levels, and at what points in a baby’s development, the chemical could possibly cause health effects.
