(Editor's Note: Presented below is an entry from Whole Story, a blog from the Whole Foods Website. Whole Foods is joining the list of corporations taking a stand against the use of Bisphenol-A.)
Studies about Bisphenol-A (BPA), the plastic monomer used to make polycarbonate plastic, have been getting a ton of media attention lately, and our customers have had quite a few questions about it. While we certainly don’t have all the answers, we wanted to share with you what the research currently shows and what we, as a company, are doing to address the issue.
Over the past 20 years or so, polycarbonate plastic has become ubiquitous in the U.S. It’s very hard, as clear as glass – yet virtually unbreakable, lightweight and inexpensive. Because of these unique properties, it is used widely to make water bottles, aluminum can linings, and many other food containers. But in the past few years, a growing body of research has raised some difficult questions about polycarbonate plastic, and Bisphenol-A (BPA), the monomer out of which the plastic is made.
Dozens of studies have been published on the subject in the last few years, and they show that in certain quantities, Bisphenol-A can act as an endocrine disruptor. The human body essentially mistakes these substances for its own natural endocrine hormones, which can impact a number of systems in our bodies.
Some studies have also suggested that BPA can leach from polycarbonate plastic, although it has not been clearly established whether the amount of BPA that might leach from food containers causes harm. However, the research that has been done definitely raises some important questions, and we believe that much more work needs to be done to answer these questions and help consumers, businesses and the government understand the safety of this substance.
With studies stacking up against the chemical, here's what you need to know to lower your exposure
With yesterday's study linking bisphenol A--a chemical in hard plastics and the linings of food and beverage cans--to diabetes and heart disease, you may be wondering what you can do to minimize your exposure. The Environmental Working Group last year conducted an analysis of BPA in various canned foods and found the amount varies widely depending on the food. Condensed milk, for instance, has relatively little BPA, while infant formula has a lot more--about one fifth the safe dose limit set by the Food and Drug Administration. Of course, the potential risk also depends on how much you consume. Canned soda has less BPA per serving than some other foods, but if you're having a six pack a day...
Here are some good rules of thumb for reducing your intake of BPA.
With a new school year just around the corner, let's follow the example set by Canada and pack our children's lunches in safe, plastic free containers and give them healthy food, assembled with love. It lets our children know how much we care, saves money they would have spent on food that would probably not be as healthy, even gets them to participate in the selection and preparation of the lunches. Put in a note that says you love them and it's a win-win lunch all the way around! Your child will be the envy of the others!
Leslye Adelman, Founder
Gentle Nurturing
Thermos® lunch kits and FUNtainer™ for Kids reduce waste and help parents pack safe, healthy lunches
Ask any Canadian mother how she feels about packing school lunches and you will find she is concerned about food safety, health and waste reduction. Food must last in a hot locker or backpack and be sensitive to student's food allergies. Beverage containers must be hygienic and bisphenol A (BPA) free. Homemade lunches are best, they're economical and packed with love. And all lunches must comply with school litterless regulations. Who would have thought this simple task was so complex?
Today, how you pack your children's lunch is just as important as what you put in it. Did you know that Canada is the second highest per capita producer of municipal solid waste in the world? And school lunches are a major source of waste as the average student's lunch generates a total of 30 kilograms of waste per school year, or an average of 8,500 kilograms of waste per school per year, according to the Recycling Council of Ontario.
It is no wonder school boards across Canada have implemented waste reduction programs with litterless lunches becoming compulsory. The concept means no throwaway packaging: food and drinks are packed in reusable containers within a reusable lunch bag; and all containers are resealable, so that leftover food and drink can be consumed (or composted) later.
Follow these simple ways to pack an eco-friendly, litterless lunch:
Two major Canadian retailers have removed clear, hard plastic bottles in the Nalgene style from their shelves, citing concerns over the health effects of polycarbonate plastic ingredient bisphenol A (BPA).
BPA is used to make plastic hard and transparent, and also in the manufacturing of resins used to line the inside of food cans. Laboratory studies have shown it to function as an endocrine disruptor that mimics estrogen within the body. It has been observed to lead to both reproductive and developmental defects in children and adults.
While BPA has not been regulated in the United States, Canada's health service recently announced that it would conduct a comprehensive assessment of the chemical to determine if its use should be phased out.
Spurred by this decision and by consumer concern, Mountain Equipment Cooperative, a Canadian retailer similar to REI, announced that it would stop selling clear, hard plastic bottles at all 11 of its stores.
Notice that the information about the ill effects of BPA and phthalates come from every corner of the world. I am totally amazed as I gather articles to share with you (and some that I choose not to), that the writing has been printed literally in publications from just about every country in the world.
Canada is undeniably out in front in what they are printing and doing to put a stop to the use of these chemicals and the United States comes in second (although we are not a close second). This disappoints me, but I do live in California, a state that is doing it's fair share and will be banning plastics within the next 2 years!
Leslye Adelman, Founder
Gentle Nurturing
There is no doubt that plastic does tremendous harm to our bodies and our environment. And the best way to help both is to cut down on its use, says a recent article in Time magazine. But it's not as simple as it sounds. For there is little available in the market today that does not contain plastic in some form.
"Our food and water come wrapped in plastic. It's used in our phones and our computers, the cars we drive and the planes we ride in," says writer Bryan Walsh. The US produced 28 million tons of plastic waste in 2005, 27 million tons of which ended up in landfills.
And while environmentalists fret about the petroleum needed to make it, and parents worry about the possibility of toxic chemicals making their way from household plastic into children's bloodstreams, there are a few groups of people who are trying to minimize the use of plastic in daily life.
Walsh gives the example of 28-year-old Chicago resident Jeanne Haegele who, last year, resolved to cut plastics out of her life, and of Frederick vom Saal, a biologist at the University of Missouri, who is a member of a group of researchers who have raised questions about the safety of some common types of plastics.
An investigation by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has found that nearly all infant formulas are packaged in containers that contain the dangerous toxin bisphenol A.
The EWG surveyed the top five manufacturers of baby formulas sold in the United States about the packaging of their containers. All five, including the makers of Nestle, Similac, Enfamil and PBM formulas, acknowledged the use of bisphenol A in the lining of metal liquid formula containers. Among makers of powdered formulas, four of the five top manufacturers also admitted to using bisphenol A to line metal portions of containers.
Nestle denied using bisphenol A in the containers of powdered formula, but the EWG notes that the company "failed to provide EWG with reliable documentation of their alternative packaging, and thus is not a clear improvement over other types."
In addition, the EWG expressed reservations over endorsing Nestle products due to the company's history of unethical infant formula marketing practices in Third World countries.
Bisphenol A is widely used to make plastics hard and translucent and to line metal cans. It is known to disrupt the hormonal system of vertebrates, causing reproductive and developmental defects, including brain damage and neurobehavioral problems. It is considered particularly dangerous to developing animals, such as humans exposed during fetal development or in early childhood.
Recent studies have also shown that bisphenol A exposure during development can lead to cancer later in life, and that it may be linked to obesity.
The FDA can continue to attempt to pull the wool over our eyes, but we will not allow them to bamboozle us with their lack of concern for the health and well-being of our children and ourselves. Let them try. We know what BPA, phthalates and other toxins are doing and we will not sit idly by. Thanks go to ReusableBags.com, the Environmental Working Group, the states in the U.S. who have filed class action suits against the baby bottle manufacturers and to the nation of Canada for all it has done to put an end to this health hazard and not allowed the dirt to be swept under the carpet.
Leslye Adelman
Owner, Gentle Nurturing
In a response to the BPA controversy, the FDA announced recently that parents should not be concerned about safety in regards to the use of the chemical bisphenol-A in their children’s baby bottles. Claiming the concerns raised recently were based on uncorroborated evidence, conflicting results and research done on rats, the officials defended the use of BPA and phthalates.
Our Take: Yikes. In this shockingly irresponsible (and much delayed) response, the FDA continues to erode its “brand” and public trust. Sounds like ass-covering and siding with industry. The old US standard of having to prove a substance is unsafe before it is pulled from the market is alive and well. As much as the government may wish, we have a feeling this isn’t over.
Written by Catherine Zandonella, M.P.H, National Geographic's Green Guide
Monday, 09 June 2008
A chemical that can disrupt hormones is in almost all canned foods and popular Nalgene bottles, but should you be worried?
If you are like many readers of this site, you try and choose foods that are as free as possible of harmful chemicals such as pesticides. But if you consume canned soups, beans and soft drinks, organic or not, you also may be swallowing residues of a controversial chemical called bisphenol A (BPA) that can leak out of the can linings into your food. Nearly all can liners contain BPA, says Geoff Cullen, director of government relations at the Can Manufacturers Institute. BPA has also been found to migrate, under some conditions, from polycarbonate plastic water bottles.
Depending on whom you talk to, BPA is either perfectly safe or a dangerous health risk. The plastics industry says it is harmless, but a growing number of scientists are concluding, from some animal tests, that exposure to BPA in the womb raises the risk of certain cancers, hampers fertility and could contribute to childhood behavioral problems such as hyperactivity.
According to its critics, BPA mimics naturally occurring estrogen, a hormone that is part of the endocrine system, the body's finely tuned messaging service. "These hormones control the development of the brain, the reproductive system and many other systems in the developing fetus," says Frederick vom Saal, Ph.D., a developmental biologist at the University of Missouri. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals can duplicate, block or exaggerate hormonal responses. "The most harm is to the unborn or newborn child," vom Saal says.
An Arkansas woman has filed a federal lawsuit accusing a Connecticut company of making plastic baby bottles with a dangerous chemical linked to serious health problems.
The lawsuit by Ashley Campbell against Playtex Products Inc. of Westport is the latest challenge involving the industrial chemical bisphenol A. The lawsuit seeks nationwide class action status to represent what it says are thousands of people who bought plastic bottles containing the chemical from Playtex or other companies.
Canada said last month the chemical, found in hard plastic water bottles, DVDs, CDs and hundreds of other common items, is potentially harmful and may ban its use in baby bottles. A growing number of parents are turning to glass bottles amid the concerns over bisphenol A.
The U.S. government's National Toxicology Program said last month that there is "some concern" about BPA from experiments on rats that linked the chemical to changes in behavior and the brain, early puberty and possibly precancerous changes in the prostate and breast. While such animal studies only provide "limited evidence" of risk, the draft report said a possible effect on humans "cannot be dismissed."
Harmful chemicals in plastic containers could be leaching into the food we eat
There is a toxic substance in your house, most likely seeping into yours and your children's hormonal systems.
Chemicals from it have been linked to obesity, early puberty, increased cancer risk and reduced fertility. And yet, many of us unknowingly continue to eat and drink from items that contain it.
The substance is Bisphenol A, or BPA, an ingredient in polycarbonate plastics. BPA chemicals have been found in plastic food wrapping, plastic containers and feeding bottles, and the resin that lines food cans.
They contain endocrine disrupters, synthetic chemicals that when absorbed into the body either mimic or block hormones and disrupt the body's normal functions, and they are facing a ban in the U.S., and have already been banned in Canada.
Research has shown that BPA leaches from these products and has been found in a large percentage of people in developed countries, including in urine and blood and in amniotic fluid, placenta, umbilical cord blood and breast milk.
What can consumers do to protect their health and avoid BPA?
Written by Susanne Rust, Milwaukee Journal Sentinal
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
The outdoor store REI has pulled all bottles containing a potentially harmful but common chemical found in plastic off its shelves, and Gander Mountain is phasing them out as well.
REI's decision was made on the heels of an announcement by the bottle company Nalgene to replace its "outdoor" line of containers with alternatives free of bisphenol A.
According to Scott Livingston, REI's assistant store manager in Brookfield, the store removed the products from shelves nearly two weeks ago.
He said the decision had come from REI's corporate level, but looking at trends in his own store, it made perfect sense.
He said customers have increasingly been choosing bottles that don't contain bisphenol A, such as Sigg aluminum bottles and Klean Kanteen stainless steel bottles.
For more than a year, Gentle
Nurturing has been printing articles and commenting on the use of
Bisphenol-A in baby bottles. Canada has finally taken steps to ban the
toxin, but it is up to every parent, grandparent, health professional
and other concerned individual to make their feelings known by simply
signing the petition to let the manufacturers of the baby bottles know
that we will not jeopardize the health and well being of our babies by
using toxic products.
Thank you.
Leslye Adelman, mother, Lactation Consultant and owner of Gentle Nurturing
Dear MomsRising.org member,
The evidence is mounting. After years of concern about the safety of baby bottles, children's care products, and other food and beverage containers which contain the chemical bisphenol A (BPA), the verdict is in--and it's not good.
Yesterday the Canadian government announced it is planning to ban the use of BPA in baby bottles, and declared BPA dangerous.[1]
And, earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times reported that the U.S.
based National Institutes of Health (NIH) concluded that there is "some
concern" that babies, fetuses, and children are in danger because BPA
harms animals at the low levels found in nearly all human bodies.[2] Sadly, a recent study found this chemical in all five leading brands of American baby bottles.
The full report from the Environmental Working Group can be read on their Website, or as a PDF available here on Gentle Nurturing.
Your cat probably has more mercury in its system than you do, and your dog has twice as much of the chemicals found in stain-resistant carpets and couches. That's the conclusion of an environmental group that tested pets for a wide range of industrial chemicals.
If you walk on a stain-resistant carpet, you may kick up and inhale a tiny dose of perfluorochemicals, or PFCs. But what if you stretched out on it for a while and then licked your fur? That's what Richard Wiles and his colleagues at the Environmental Working Group wanted to know.
"It occurred to us that no one had actually tested pets, [which] live in the same environment as we do, for the toxic contaminants that we know are in people," Wiles says.
Sometimes it seems like modern America is one colossal plastic palace. The versatile material is in our cars, toys, packaging, clothing, home goods, food utensils, medical devices and so much more. It is also littering our streets, clogging our waterways and choking marine life.
Many plastics can be readily recycled, but how do consumers make sense of all the different types and rules?
Written by Anne Underwood with Anna Kuchment, Newsweek
Monday, 04 February 2008
Many common household products contain compounds that could be affecting our health.
It's in There: (Left to right) BPA, a plastic hardener, is in baby bottles; phthalates soften the plastic in rubber duckies; flame retardant PBDEs are often used in upholstery.
As an Alaskan fisherman, Timothy June, 54, used to think that he was safe from industrial pollutants at his home in Haines -- a town with a population of 2,400 people and 4,000 eagles, with 20 million acres of protected wilderness nearby. But in early 2007, June agreed to take part in a survey of 35 Americans from seven states. It was a biomonitoring project, in which people's blood and urine were tested for traces of chemicals -- in this case, three potentially hazardous classes of compounds found in common household products like shampoo, tin cans, shower curtains and upholstery. The results -- released in November in a report called "Is It in Us?" by a coalition of environmental groups -- were not reassuring. Every one of the participants, ranging from an Illinois state legislator to a Massachusetts minister, tested positive for all three classes of contaminants. And while the simple presence of these chemicals doesn't necessarily indicate a health risk, the fact that typical Americans carry these chemicals at all shocked June and his fellow participants. As Stephanie Felten, 28, of Aurora, Ill., put it, "Why should chemical companies be allowed to roll the dice on my health?"
The shocking thing to most Americans is that we really don't know the health effects of many chemicals on the market today.
Clearly, there are chemicals in our bodies that don't belong there. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducts a large, ongoing survey that has found 148 chemicals in Americans of all ages, including lead, mercury, dioxins and PCBs. Other scientists have detected antibacterial agents from liquid soaps in breast milk, infants' cord blood and the urine of young girls. And in 2005, the Environmental Working Group found an average of 200 chemicals in the cord blood of 10 newborns, including known carcinogens and neurotoxins. "Our babies are being born pre-polluted," says Sharyle Patton of Commonweal, which cosponsored "Is It in Us?" "This is going to be the next big environmental issue after climate change."
Abbott Nutrition, which makes infant formula, faces a congressional inquiry into a potentially toxic chemical.
Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee want to know whether the Columbus company, formerly known as Ross Products, uses bisphenol A in the lining of formula cans. They also want to know if Abbott tested to see whether the compound leaks from the metal cans into the liquid.
Several studies have linked bisphenol A to health issues in lab animals, including tumors and reproductive problems. Other experts say it's no threat to people.
The committee's staff sent letters
to Abbott and other U.S. infant-formula manufacturers last week
requesting the information. The company did not return calls for
comment yesterday, but environmental and industry groups said the
chemical is used in Abbott cans.
Bisphenol A has been used since the 1950s to make shatter -- and
heat-resistant -- plastic bottles and food containers. It's also used
to make corrosion-resistant resin linings in food and drink cans.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats are investigating whether a chemical used to package baby formulas poses a risk to infants, despite assurances by U.S. regulators that it is safe for kids and adults.
Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak sent letters Thursday to seven companies that make baby formulations, questioning whether they use bisphenol A in the lining of their cans and bottles. The companies include Hain Celestial Group (NASDAQ:HAIN) , Nestle USA, Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) and Wyeth. (NYSE:WYE PR) (NYSE:WYE)
The chemical at issue has been used to package foods for over 50 years, but consumer advocates said last year that trace amounts that leak into food could be dangerous to babies.
Concerns about the chemical caused Canadian retailers to remove bottled water and other plastic containers from store shelves last month.
Written by Susanne Rust and Cary Spivak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Thursday, 17 January 2008
Congress to investigate use of bisphenol A in formula cans
The Food and Drug Administration, in protecting the manufacturers once
again, has come out saying there is no harm in using products made with
Bisphenol A and phthalates. Study after study has refuted the FDA's
opinion. You can read through our website for articles that
specifically report on the amount of toxins in the urine of people
tested and the high amounts of estrogen and early puberty in animals
studied. This also brings light to the article in the Los Angeles Times
Health Section, January 21, 2008, "Modern Puberty," which only briefly
mentioned that "environmental activists are asking whether hormones in
food, pesticides in produce or phthalates in plastics and cosmetics
could be contributing to breast buds in third-graders."
--Leslye Adelman
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."
(Editor's Note: Presented below is an entry from 
An investigation by the 
In a response to the BPA controversy, the FDA announced recently that parents should not be concerned about safety in regards to the use of the chemical bisphenol-A in their children’s baby bottles. Claiming the concerns raised recently were based on uncorroborated evidence, conflicting results and research done on rats, the officials defended the use of BPA and phthalates.
An Arkansas woman has filed a federal lawsuit accusing a Connecticut company of making plastic baby bottles with a dangerous chemical linked to serious health problems.
There is a toxic substance in your house, most likely seeping into yours and your children's hormonal systems.
The outdoor store REI has pulled all bottles containing a potentially harmful but common chemical found in plastic off its shelves, and Gander Mountain is phasing them out as well.
Your cat probably has more mercury in its system than you do, and your dog has twice as much of the chemicals found in stain-resistant carpets and couches. That's the conclusion of an environmental group that tested pets for a wide range of industrial chemicals.
Some answers sought from Abbott Nutrition
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats are investigating whether a chemical used to package baby formulas poses a risk to infants, despite assurances by U.S. regulators that it is safe for kids and adults.