Question: I’ve been reading about a harmful chemical in baby bottles and other household plastics call BPA that may be harmful to humans. I’m also concerned about the product being in plastic bottles containing milk and orange juice.

Answer: This is a controversial topic with scientists on both sides of the issue claming that BPA is harmful or isn’t harmful.  Congress is investigating the chemical’s safety according to this recent article in the Wilwaukee Journal Sentinel. You may need to decide for yourself whether you will avoid plastic food containers entirely until some type of consensus is reached on the safety of BPA.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin), January 18, 2008  

 Baby products under scrutiny; Congress to investigate use of bisphenol A in formula cans

 BYLINE: SUSANNE RUST and CARY SPIVAK, Staff, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A congressional committee is launching an investigation into the use and safety of a chemical found in many children’s and infant products, including the lining of liquid infant formula cans. Michigan Democrats Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the committee on Energy and Commerce, and Rep. Bart Stupak, who chairs a subcommittee, on Thursday sent letters to seven major manufacturers of infant formula, including Nestle USA and Abbott, demanding answers about the companies’ use and knowledge of the chemical bisphenol A.  “There is concern in the scientific community that this chemical, bisphenol A, may be harmful  both to adults and children,” Dingell said in a statement. “It would seem obvious that we would try to protect babies and infants from chemicals that may be considered dangerous to adults.”  The pair also fired off a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, requiring the agency’s commissioner to show the scientific support for its position on the chemical’s safety. The FDA in November reiterated its stance that bisphenol A is safe for infants and adults, saying it saw “no reason at this time to ban or otherwise restrict uses now authorized.” “Our primary goal is to protect infants from a potentially harmful chemical.”  Stupak said in a statement. “Our investigation intends to examine how the FDA determined this chemical to be safe for use in infant formula.”Trade group reassures Officials from the International Formula Council, the trade group representing the nation’s largest formula makers, stressed in an interview Thursday evening that formula is safe. “Parents using infant formula should not be alarmed,” said Marisa Salcines, the trade group’s spokeswoman. “No changes in infant feeding practices are recommended.” However, Salcines and Haley Stevens, the council’s scientific affairs coordinator, left the door open for changes in packaging infant formula if it is later proven that dangerous levels of bisphenol A are leaching into the product. “It’s a controversial issue . . . at this time there is not a scientific consensus,” Stevens said. “The jury is still out.” Studies have shown that bisphenol A causes breast cancer, testicular cancer, diabetes and hyperactivity in laboratory animals. Two government panels, including one that has come under fire as being biased in favor of chemical-makers, have warned that bisphenol A might be dangerous to developing fetuses and children younger than 3. Bisphenol A, or BPA, was developed in 1891 as a synthetic estrogen but came into widespread use in the 1950s when scientists realized it could be used to make polycarbonate plastic and some epoxy resins to line food and beverage cans. More than 6 billion pounds of BPA is produced annually in the U.S., for use in a wide array of products, including dental sealants and baby bottles. The chemical has been found in the urine of 93% of Americans tested. The congressional investigation was sparked by the growing volume of scientific research and a rash of media attention to the issue of hormone-mimicking chemicals, including bisphenol A and phthalates. “There appears to be at least circumstantial evidence suggesting that BPA can be harmful to adults,” said Rep. Al Wynn (D-Md.), the chairman of the subcommittee on environment and hazardous materials, in the statement announcing the investigation. “On its face, it seems unwise to expose infants to such a potentially dangerous substance.”Researchers find risks The move by the congressmen comes on the heels of a controversial National Toxicology Program panel that downplayed the risks of bisphenol A. That report is now undergoing an extraordinary review by the toxicology program. In December, the Journal Sentinel reported that the panel gave more weight to industry-funded studies and more leeway to industry-funded researchers. The newspaper also found that the panel missed dozens of studies publicly available that the Journal Sentinel found online using a medical research Internet search engine. The newspaper also found an overwhelming majority of independent scientific research determined that bisphenol A causes harm to lab animals. Steven G. Hentges, executive director of the American Chemistry Council’s Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group, said that the amounts of bisphenol A that may leach into formula do not pose any danger to people. He said the FDA and regulators in Europe agree with that position.JOURNAL SENTINEL  WATCHDOG REPORTKEY FINDINGS A Journal Sentinel investigation in December found:  * The federal government’s assurances that bisphenol A is a safe chemical are based on outdated and incomplete government studies and science mostly funded by the chemical industry.  * About 80% of academically and government-funded research found that bisphenol A is harmful in laboratory animals.  * A federal panel that advises the government issued a report in November downplaying the effects of bisphenol A.

 JSOnline.com To read the Journal Sentinel’s investigation:

  www.jsonline.com/chemicalfallout Officials from a trade group representing the nation’s largest infant formula makers defended the packaging as safe but left the door open for changes if it is proven that dangerous levels of bisphenol A are leaching into it. 

And, On Feb. 7, 2008, the PR Newswire offered these Web sites to learn more about BPA:

Visitors to the “Baby’s Toxic Bottle” website can sign a petition to baby bottle manufacturers, urging them to phase out BPA in baby bottles at: http://www.babystoxicbottle.org/.

The full study, “Baby’s Toxic Bottle: Bisphenol A Leaching from Popular Baby Bottles,” is available to download for free on the website http://www.babystoxicbottle.org/ . The Canadian version of the study is available at http://www.toxicnation.ca/

 Linda Niemi

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