Environment
Outraged Parents and Environmental Health Advocates Demand Halt
By news release
May 7, 2008 - 2:38:45 PM

If you like the article, could you please do us a favor? Just tell Google News Services that you like foodconsumer.org included in Google News Services. Inclusion in googlenewsservices means many more people can read articles like this. Thanks.
------

Contact: Stephenie Hendricks NewsStories@comcast.net 415 258-9151

May 7, 2008

Outraged Parents and Environmental Health Advocates Demand Halt
to Toxic Chemical in Plastic Baby Bottles

Over 20,000 parents and consumers sign petition delivered to baby
bottle manufacturers demanding safer products

Bisphenol A (BPA) target of Congressional investigations and U.S.
Senate bill; Banned in Canada

Today a petition signed by over 20,000 parents and concerned
consumers who support greater health protections for infants was
sent to the CEOs of Avent, Disney/First Years, Dr. Brown's,
Evenflo, and Gerber – manufacturers of plastic baby bottles
containing BPA, a sex hormone that interferes with the ways that
genes are supposed to guide babies' healthy growth and
development.

The letter sates, "As representatives of national organizations
focused on women's, children's, and environmental health, we urge
you to strengthen your company's commitment to safe products by
discontinuing your use of bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles."

Consumer, parent, and environmental health groups are responding
to recent breaking news developments with this chemical:

§      On April 29th  U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced
Senate bill 2928 banning BPA in all products intended for infants
and children up to age 7. Senators Boxer, Clinton, Durbin,
Feinstein, Kerry and Menendez are co-sponsors of the bill.

§      The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it would
review its regulatory policy on BPA.  The FDA's reliance on two
industry studies finding BPA safe, despite over 100 independent
scientific studies linking the chemical to an array of illnesses,
including breast and prostate cancer and obesity, is the subject
of a Congressional investigation headed by Congressman John
Dingell (D-MI).

§      April 18th, the Canadian Government declared BPA "toxic"
under Canadian Law, triggering a ban on BPA baby bottles in
Canada.

§      Playtex Infant Care announced it will stop selling products
made with BPA by the end of the year and will give one million
free samples of new BPA-free products to potential customers

§      Wal-Mart and CVS announced they are phasing out BPA baby
bottles in U.S. stores.

§      Nalgene announced it would no longer use plastic made with
BPA in its water bottles.

§      A February 2008 report, Babys Toxic Bottle, found that
Avent, Disney/First Years, Dr. Brown's and Evenflo baby bottles
made with polycarbonate plastic leach BPA when heated. Recent
research shows that BPA can be harmful at doses below the levels
found in this study

§      Last fall, 38 leading scientists conducted a review funded
by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of
hundreds of peer-reviewed research studies on BPA. The panel
expressed unanimous concern that recent trends in human disease
could be related to exposure to BPA even at very low levels.


 Maureen Swanson of the Learning Disabilities Association says,
"BPA is linked to such a range of adverse effects on neurological
and physical development. These effects may include breast and
prostate cancer, genital abnormalities in male babies, early onset
of puberty in females, metabolic disorders including Type 2
diabetes and obesity, and neurobehavioral problems such as
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)."

"The most alarming finding from leading scientific research is
that higher levels of BPA are found in people than what's shown to
cause harm in animal laboratory studies.  This is not a case of
high dose experiments being used to predict low dose effects in
people.  People are already exposed to more BPA than is necessary
to cause effects in controlled studies. In other words, every day
that people encounter BPA they are potentially at greater risk of
harming themselves," argues Baby's Toxic Bottle co-author Michael
Schade of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice.

"Moms and Dads across the country are outraged and worried that
their babies might have been exposed to dangerous toxins from BPA
in baby bottles.  Manufacturers and retailers must do their part
to keep our kids safe and healthy by ending the production and
sales of baby bottles and other children's care products with BPA.
What could be more important than the health of our children?"
says Donna Norton of MomsRising.org

Mia Davis from Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, co-author of Baby's
Toxic Bottle, adds, "On April 18th, the U.S. National Institute of
Health (NIH) stated that, 'the possibility that bisphenol A may
alter human development cannot be dismissed.' Baby bottle
manufacturers have an obligation to heed this call, action the
side of precaution, and eliminate BPA use in baby bottles
immediately."

"We are very concerned about our most vulnerable populations,
such as infants and young children, including those who already
have developmental disabilities.  The demonstrated health effects
of Bisphenol A alarm us, and we believe swift action must be taken
by manufacturers and retailers of baby bottles to address the
safety concerns of concerned citizens across the country," says
Laura Abulafia, MHS Director, Environmental Health Initiative,
American Association on Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities (Formerly AAMR).

The coalition of signatories representing tens of thousands of
individuals, families and environmental and public health
organizations, calls upon the CEOs of Avent, Disney/First Years,
Dr. Brown's, Evenflo, and Gerber to make safer, BPA-free
children's products.

Available for Interviews:

Maureen Swanson, Healthy Children Project Coordinator,
Learning Disabilities Association of America 724-813-9684,
mswanson@ldaamerica.org

Mia Davis, National Grassroots Coordinator, Campaign for Safe
Cosmetics, Clean Water Fund 617.338.8131 ext 201
miadavis@cleanwater.org www.safecosmetics.org

Michael Schade, PVC Campaign Coordinator, The Center for Health,
Environment and Justice (CHEJ) 703.237.2249 x 19  dianna@chej.org,
http://www.chej.org

Donna Norton, MomsRising.org.  contact  Gretchen Wright,
202 371-1999 gretchen@prsolutionsdc.com, www.momsrising.org

Laura Abulafia, Director, Environmental Health Initiative,
American Association on Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities (AAIDD), 202-387-1968 ext 201, laura@aaidd.org
www.ehinitiative.org

Janet Nudelman, Director of Program and Policy for the Breast
Cancer Fund to schedule an interview with Janet Nudelman, please
contact Stephenie Hendricks stephdh@earthlink.net 415 258-9151

Jennifer Foulds. Communications Director, Environmental Defence
Canada (416) 323-9521 ext. 232 Toll-free: 1-877-399-2333 ext. 232
jfoulds@environmentaldefence .ca


Resources

"Baby's Toxic Bottle," February 2008 report on leaching of
bisphenol A from plastic baby bottles sold in the United States
and Canada at Wal-Mart and other retailers. Includes bisphenol A
fact sheet and information on state legislation.
www.babystoxicbottle.org

"Is It In Us?", an October 2007 study on chemical contamination in
our bodies, including bisphenol A: www.Isitinus.org

"Contaminated without Consent," a new free16 minute DVD on
chemical contamination and what we can do about it.
www.contaminatedwithoutconsent .org

American Association on Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities

http://www.aaidd.org/index .shtml

Autism Society of America
http://www.autism-society.org /site/PageServer

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics www.safecosmetics.org

Center for Health, Environment and Justice, http://www.chej.org

Clean Water Action Clean Water Fund, www.cleanwateraction.org

Environmental Defence Canada  www.environmentaldefence.ca

Environment Illinois www.EnvironmentIllinois.org

Environmental Working Group www.ewg.org

Institute for Children's Environmental Health http://www.iceh.org/

Learning Disabilities Association of America ldaamerica.org

National Association for the Dually Diagnosed
http://www.thenadd.org/





Stephenie Hendricks
NewsStories@comcast.net
415 258-9151