FDA bans BPA in baby bottles and cups

The FDA ban makes a voluntary industry ban on
BPA in baby bottles and drinking cups official.

It was about time: The Food and Drug Administration recently announced that baby bottles and children’s drinking cups could no longer be made with bisphenol A (or BPA).

BPA has received lots of negative press because research has shown that the industrial chemical used in plastic bottles and food packaging is an estrogen-mimicking substance that can affect development.

Growing consumer concern already prompted the industry to stop using BPA in baby products, but the FDA’s decision is making it official.

Industry experts hope the decision will boost a shaken consumer confidence.

About BPA: Endocrine disruptor

The FDA declared BPA safe in 2008, but has voiced concerns about the chemical’s safety since 2010, saying it might affect the brain, behavior and prostrate gland of fetuses, infants and children.

The ban does not extend to BPA in other containers. Plastic items containing BPA are usually marked with a 7 on the bottom, for recycling purposes.

BPA exposure is common – traces of the chemical have been found in urine, breast milk, the blood of pregnant women and umbilical cord blood.

BPA already banned in Canada

The potentially negative health effects have led to official bans of BPA  from children’s products in Canada, Chicago and Suffolk County in New York State.

The FDA ban is a nice gesture, but it doesn’t include the containers of baby formula and many other containers that can expose pregnant women to the chemical, who can pass it on to their babies.

Maybe there will be a more comprehensive ban in our near future.

Source: New York Times

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