Bisphenol A (BPA) is an estrogen-mimicking substance that has been linked to a number of crippling health conditions. It has been tied to obesity and fertility problems, and numerous studies have found that it may devastate human health in other ways. Canada has taken a large step in the fight against BPA. Even in the face of industry opposition, Canada has declared BPA to be a toxic substance.

The ruling would have been made sooner, as evidence of BPA's toxicity has been readily available for quite some time, but the American Chemistry Council attempted to halt the process. On July 15, 2009, the American Chemistry Council filed a formal notice of objection. The council claimed that BPA was indeed safe; and therefore, there was no reason to declare it a toxic substance. The government rejected the objection on July 27, 2010, stating that the council failed to "bring forth any new scientific data or information with respect to the nature and extent of the danger posed by bisphenol A."

Rick Smith is the director of Environmental Defence, a non-profit environmental organization that has spent 5 years pushing for BPA to be labeled as toxic. "This is a really significant public health victory," he said. As news of the victory hit, Rick and his associates celebrated with champagne. "We're seeing a rapid and dramatic transformation of the children's product industry."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) vowed yesterday to pursue a vote on banning bisphenol A (BPA) from children's food and drink containers after negotiators reached a bipartisan deal on food safety legislation that lacked limits on the controversial chemical (Agreement Reached on Senate Food Safety Bill; August 11, 2010).

The food safety agreement paves the way for Senate floor debate on the measure, which would broadly expand the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) powers to inspect products and remove tainted items from the market. The debate over how to address BPA, a man-made chemical added to pliable plastics and shown to mimic estrogen in the human body, is one of several politically volatile issues that had slowed progress on the bill after its House passage last year.

Feinstein participated in talks on the BPA issue, she said in a statement, but after senior members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee released the text of an agreement without language on the chemical, she decided to move forward with an amendment.

"I believe that we need legislation to protect consumers, especially babies and toddlers, from harmful chemicals," Feinstein said. "Because of their smaller size and stage of development, babies and children are particularly at risk from the harmful health effects of BPA."

A number of studies have linked BPA to developmental and behavioral problems in children, driving campaigns by environmental and public-health advocates to ban the chemical from food containers from which it might be in danger of leaching. While several states have taken up proposals to ban the chemical from packaging of children's consumables, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has yet to announce whether he plans to sign his state's version of such a measure (California State Assembly Passes BPA Bill; July 1, 2010).

The Senate has reached a "tentative agreement" on the pending safety bill and staff will be briefed on the language Thursday, a staffer told The Hill yesterday.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee is expected to release the manager's package and a Congressional Budget Office score, according to The Hill.

"It's a clear signal that this is going to happen when they come back in September," said Sandy Eskin, director of the Pew Charitable Trust's food safety campaign.

Sources on the Hill confirmed that there are ongoing discussions about bringing the bill to a vote in September.

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) in March of 2009, rolled to a halt in the Senate after being unanimously approved by committee last November.

Health care reform and a series of other legislative priorities, as well as lingering disagreements over a bisphenol-A ban and on how to ease the impact of new regulations on small farmers have not helped the bill, which enjoys broad bipartisan support and overhauls the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) oversight of 80 percent of the food supply.

An environmental group in Maine has released a report it says documents the dangers of the chemical bisphenol A (BIS'-fen-ahl).

The Toxics Action Center released the report in Portland on Wednesday, eight days before the Maine Board of Environmental Protection holds a public hearing on a proposed rule calling for a ban on the use of bisphenol A, or BPA, in reusable food and beverage containers.

The report is a compilation of studies published between January and July. According to the report, 75 of the 81 studies that were looked at indicated that BPA is associated with a number of health problems ranging from diabetes and memory loss to liver damage and cancer.

BPA is commonly used in making plastics shatterproof and to line food cans.

The Maine Board of Environmental Protection will hold a public hearing on whether to ban bisphenol A in baby bottles and other reusable food and beverage containers at 1 p.m. Aug. 19 at the Holiday Inn and Ground Round, 110 Community Drive, Augusta.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has proposed banning the chemical, also known as BPA, from polycarbonate plastics products such as sippy cups. The chemical has been shown to disrupt hormone flows in animal studies and has been banned in other states.

Environmental groups in Maine have been urging their members to attend the hearing. Maine’s Toxics Center has scheduled an event about the dangers of exposure to BPA at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Lobsterman’s Park at the corner of Middle and Temple streets, Portland.

More information about the possible ban is available on the DEP website.

New York State just passed a law banning the sale of baby bottles, sippy cups, and a variety of other children’s products that contain bisphenol A—BPA—said WBEN. Governor David Paterson signed the law Saturday, which is scheduled to become effective December 1, 2010.

Governor Paterson said the new law will protect children from “a potentially harmful substance,” quoted WBEN. The legislation passed with a unanimous vote in the Senate and Assembly this June.

WBEN said that, citing advocates, about six other states have bans similar to NY’s emerging ban.

According to a previous WGRZ report, as of June, about 18 additional states were looking into legislation banning BPA, said Assemblyman Steven Englebright (Democrat-Suffolk County). Prior to this weekend’s move in NY state, Rockland, Albany, Schenectady, and Suffolk counties, all in NY, enacted similar laws restricting the use of BPA in sippy cup and baby bottles, said WGRZ, citing the bill’s sponsors. The states of Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, Washington, and Wisconsin have also adopted similar laws, added the sponsors.

The BBC previously wrote that BPA has been banned or limited in three countries: Canada, Denmark, and France. Bans are also in place in Australia, and New Zealand and last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it would be launching a study to look at the health effects of BPA, wrote TimesArgus.

A recent study commissioned by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that a slim majority of cash register receipts analyzed for bisphenol A  (BPA) levels showed either no BPA or just trace amounts of the substance. However, the remaining 40 percent of thermal paper receipts, originating with some of the largest retailers in the country, contained BPA levels anywhere from 250 to 1,000 times higher than products already known to contain BPA.

The report, featured 7/29/10 in CNN Health, cited companies such as McDonald's, CVS, KFC, Wal-Mart, Safeway, Whole Foods and even the US Postal Service as supplying cash register receipts and pieces of thermal paper with high levels of BPA.

Paper receipts from companies that showed just trace amounts of BPA or none at all included Starbucks, Target, and Bank of America ATM machines.

Bisphenol A has been a concern for the last number of years due to its carcinogenic properties. It has been found in everything from plastic water bottles to the linings of canned food and even baby bottles. A number of states have banned plastic baby bottles as a result.

A few years ago, a professor began sounding the warning bells about the presence of BPA in cash register receipts. Long before that, however, the manufacturers of thermal paper had been quietly altering their production protocols in an effort to rid their products of BPA. Appleton Papers, which indentifies itself as the largest manufacturer and supplier of thermal paper products in the US, phased out the use of BPA from their thermal paper line in 2006 out of safety concerns.

There’s a new way to make plastic decompose, according to a new study published in ACS’ Biomacromolecules, a monthly journal.

It involves cooking the plastic containing bisphenol A (BPA) – the environmentalists worst nightmare.

And this new method may just be solution that scientist’s have been looking for to dispose of these plastic in an eco-friendly way.

Polycarbonate is a highly resistant plastic and, according to Mukesh Doble and Trishul Artham, 2.7 million tons of plastic containing BPA are manufactured each year.

There are studies that implies the involvement of BPAs in several cases of illnesses and these have spawned a search on how to dispose the plastics without harming the environment.

BPAs are found in screwdriver handles, eyeglass lenses, DVDs, and CDs – just to mention a few.

The polycarbonates are first made to undergo ultraviolet light and heat.

Then they are placed among three kinds of fungi, including the famous white-rot fungus, which are employed commercially as the final solution in dealing with the toughest environmental pollutants.

The result was the fungi grew well in plastics pre teated with uv and they have broken down the plastic using BPA and other additives as suppliers of energy.

After a year, there was a marked desintigration of the pre treated plastics without releasing BPA, while the untreated ones remained in almost the same circumstances as they were at the beginning.

You can download and read the entire lawsuit the Natural Resources Defense Council filed with the D.C. Court of Appeals by Clicking Here (PDF).

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a national nonprofit environmental health group with more than 525,000 members, is suing the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its failure to respond to NRDC's citizen petition asking that the ubiquitous chemical bisphenol A (BPA) be banned from products such as plastic bottles and food can liners.

The lawsuit, filed in late June in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, asks for a "writ of mandamus," or a court order that will require the FDA to respond to the NRDC's petition with either a rule banning BPA or a statement of why the FDA is denying the environmental group's petition.

The FDA is required by law to respond to citizen petitions for new regulations within 90 days by granting or denying the petition but can extend the time it takes to consider the issue at stake — but only by an additional 90 days. The NRDC's petition to the FDA, filed on behalf of their members in October 2008, asked that the agency revoke all regulations permitting BPA in food packaging, citing health concerns that have been raised about the chemical in a variety of scientific studies. Although the issue is controversial, animal and human studies have linked the chemical to an increased risk for a number of conditions, including diabetes, obesity, cancer, and cardiovascular disease, especially when exposure to BPA occurs in infancy or childhood.

Although the FDA has clearly failed to act on the citizen petition about BPA in the time frame mandated by law, whether or not the NRDC's unusual request for a court order will be granted remains open to question, according to legal experts.

"We filed a petition in 2008 asking the FDA to revoke its approvals and ban the use of BPA in food packaging, and the FDA has still not responded. We're hoping to prod the FDA into action," said NRDC Senior Scientist Sarah Janssen, MD, PhD.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein's insistence that a sweeping food safety bill include a ban on bisphenol A, a chemical widely used to line food cans, threatens a top White House priority.

The California Democrat contends that any legislation aimed at protecting food safety should include limits on the compound, known as BPA.

If she succeeds, the food and chemical industries have promised to defeat the food safety bill, which would expand the powers of the Food and Drug Administration over food processing and production to prevent food contamination, trace outbreaks and enforce recalls.

The California Assembly recently passed a ban on the chemical similar to the one Feinstein wants nationwide.

"No chemical should be used in food products until it is proved safe," Feinstein said.

BPA is integral to the epoxy resins used to line metal food cans and lids of glass jars, as well as reusable clear plastic water and baby bottles.

Feinstein cites studies claiming a link between BPA, which can mimic the effects of the female hormone estrogen, to "precocious puberty" in American girls, who are developing breasts at about age 9 1/2 - about a year earlier than prior generations.

When a bill to ban a common plastic additive in feeding products for young children passed the Assembly on July 1, it marked a milestone in state legislative efforts to regulate bisphenol A.

The ban's supporters point to studies linking the chemical, found in hard plastic containers such as baby bottles and in the lining of food and beverage cans, with numerous adverse health effects, especially in infants and young children.

The bill, SB 797, was defeated last year in the Assembly. In 2008, a similar bill written by another state senator also failed.

But Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, the bill's author, asked for another vote this year, and this time it passed 43-31. Mostly Republicans opposed it, along with a few Democrats, including Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont.

"I'm thrilled. This was a real David and Goliath fight," said Pavley, referring to what she called a battle over the bill with industry lobbyists.

It calls for a ban on the chemical by January 2012 in feeding products designed for children aged 3 and under, such as sippy cups, bottles and baby food jars. It also bans BPA in all infant formula starting July 2012.

The bill heads back the state Senate, where it already passed, for a reconciliation vote in August. If approved again there, it goes to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In the weeks ahead, Pavley's staff expects intense lobbying by industry groups opposed to the bill.

The secret is out: the toxic chemicals industry is designing a PR campaign for survival! Bisphenol A in baby bottles, water bottles, and food cans. Formaldehyde in furniture. Phthalates in air fresheners, soft plastics, and fragrances. The manufacturers of these chemicals are not taking the push for regulation lying down (despite their public claims of support for safety). Don’t be duped!

View the video the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition created to galvanize public support for Congressional action, and have fun with a pretty serious issue. The characters you will meet in the video are cartoons, but the plot is ripped straight from the headlines. (Just go to the industry funded “Coalition for Chemical Safety” or read one of Richard Dennison's exposes and you’ll see what we mean.)

Chemicals aren’t sitting still – and neither should we!

Low-level exposure in the womb to the plastic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) can harm testicular function into adulthood, according to a new study from Auburn University that adds to the growing list of concerns about the ubiquitous chemical. The results were presented yesterday at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting.

"We are seeing changes in the testis function of rats after exposure to BPA levels that are lower than what the FDA and EPA consider safe exposure levels for humans," said Benson Akingbemi, the study's lead author. "This is concerning because large segments of the population, including pregnant and nursing mothers, are exposed to this chemical."

BPA, found in many plastic products such as drink bottles, acts in a similar manner as the female sex hormone estrogen and has been linked to female infertility. It is present in placental tissue and is able to pass from a mother into her breast milk.

In the new study, Akingbemi and colleagues saw the effects of BPA at the cellular level; specifically in Leydig cells (Leydig cells are responsible for testosterone secretion). Akingbemi explained that the process of testosterone secretion was decreased in the male offspring of female rats that received BPA during pregnancy and while nursing.

For the study, the mothers were fed BPA in olive oil at a dose of either 2.5 or 25 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight. The daily upper limit of safe exposure for humans, according to federal guidelines, is 50 micrograms per kilogram of body weight. A control group of pregnant rats received olive oil without BPA.

The investigators then studied the development of Leydig cells in the male offspring. The capacity for testosterone secretion was assessed at 21, 35 and 90 days of age. The amount of testosterone secreted per Leydig cell was found to be much lower in male offspring after early-life exposure to BPA than in offspring from control unexposed animals.

CONFIDENTIAL emails reveal Australia's food regulator discussed hiding from the Federal Government international warnings about a potentially dangerous chemical used in plastic bottles.

The chemical, Bisphenol A (BPA), is found in plastic packaging. Latest research in the US says it may harm brain development and the prostate gland.

Australian stores last week began a voluntary phase-out of plastic baby bottles containing the substance, but Food Standards Australia New Zealand has long declared it safe.

A draft report to Parliamentary Secretary for Health Mark Butler includes comments indicating that the agency considered covering up international concerns.

"Maybe too sensitive for the Minister to see," one comment says. Another comment, on industry moves to phase out products containing BPA, warns: "Would delete this - we do not want to be encouraging withdrawal of something we deem safe."

The emails were written in January, at the same time as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched new research into the safety of products containing BPA.

Bill Could Be on Governor's Desk by End of Summer

The health of California’s children was represented today in Sacramento when a majority of the State Assembly voted to remove the toxic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) from food and beverage containers designed for children 3 and younger.

Forty-three lawmakers voted to pass the “Toxics-Free Babies and Toddlers Act” (SB 797) originally authored by State Senator Fran Pavley (D-Santa Monica). Pavley’s bill, which was already approved by the Senate, now goes back to the upper chamber for a final procedural vote where it is expected to pass before heading to the Governor for his consideration.

Senator Pavley authored the legislation in response to mounting scientific evidence that exposure to even very low levels of BPA can impact health. More than 200 scientific studies show that BPA exposure, particularly during early infancy, is associated with a wide range of adverse health effects later in life, including breast and prostate cancer, birth defects, infertility in men, early puberty in girls, diabetes and obesity.

The main route of exposure in humans is from food and beverage containers where BPA leaches from the hard plastic.

“The chemical industry may have had the money, but science and the public’s concern for children’s health came out on top today,” said the director of EWG’s California office, Renee Sharp. “California parents are closer than ever to that day when they won’t have to worry if their babies and toddlers are ingesting BPA.”

The controversial chemical bisphenol-A (BPA), already linked to a wide array of health problems, may also increase the risk of asthma in children, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston and published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

BPA is an industrial chemical widely used in the manufacture of hard, clear plastics like those used in water and baby bottles, as well as in resins used to line cans of food, beverages and infant formula. Exposure has been linked to an increased risk of cancer, heart disease, birth defects, and hormonal and reproductive problems. Its use in products for young children has been banned in a number of countries and in three U.S. states.

After years of insisting that the chemical was safe, the FDA recently changed its position and called for more research.

Researchers fed pregnant mice BPA for a week before they were due to give birth, until the mice had a body burden of BPA equivalent to that regularly found in pregnant U.S. women. They then exposed the pups of these mice to a common allergy inducer, and compared their response to that of mice who had not been exposed to BPA in utero. They found a significantly greater asthma reaction in the BPA-exposed mice.

The National Resources Defense Counsel filed suit on Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, alleging that the FDA has failed to regulate bisphenol A, a chemical linked to reproductive harm, cancer and obesity. Bisphenol A, or BPA, was first developed as a synthetic form of estrogen in the 1930s but was later transformed into a plastic, which is used today in food containers. BPA is found in numerous products that can be used on a daily basis, from soda and beer cans to baby bottles, sippy cups, and water bottles. Researchers believe that when heated, BPA can leak into the containers contents.

Studies have found that BPA can cause early puberty and reproductive harms, suppress immune function, and cause cancer, neurological delays and diabetes. Detected in urine, amniotic fluid, breast milk and umbilical cord blood, the chemical is so common that the NRDC says more than 93 percent of the general population has some BPA in their bodies.

France and Denmark are banning industrial chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) from babies' bottles as of this week, but the British Plastics Federation has suggested a similar move was unlikely in the UK.

The Denmark ban is being described as temporary, but the French ban is permanent and the country’s government will next year decide on whether to ban the controversial plastic component from all products.

The British Plastic Federation said the ban was unjustifiable and that the UK was unlikely to see a similar move.

Phillip Law, public affairs director, told Packaging News: "It’s unjustifiable because consumer products contain very, very tiny trace amounts of BPA."

Law said that the Food Standards Agency in the UK had last year confirmed that there was no basis to press for higher controls of the chemical or for a ban on it based on current evidence.

Canada has already banned BPA, as have several US states and other European countries are considering a ban. Some UK manufacturers, such as NUK, which produces babies’ bottles, have also banned Bisphenol A.

Questions are growing over a chemical component in baby bottles. State lawmakers were asked to vote in favor of a ban Monday.

A ban on the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) did not survive Monday's vote in the state assembly. The crusade by a group of expectant mothers goes on.

Those expectant moms have the support of some Democratic lawmakers who have tried for years to ban BPA from children's products. There are studies that support both sides, leaving some to wonder which way to vote.

These expectant moms are running out of time in their fight against the powerful chemical industry.

Click the image above to read the PDF.

Germany’s Federal Environment Agency (UBA) has advised manufacturers, importers and users of bisphenol A (BPA) to use alternative substances that pose less risk to human health and the environment in all areas of use that significantly contribute to exposure.

UBA has translated into English its recent study Bisphenol A – an industrial chemical with adverse effects, which advises manufacturers, importers and users of bisphenol A (BPA) to use alternative substances that pose less risk to human health and the environment in all areas of use that significantly contribute to exposure.