Congress calls for federal ban on BPA

Congress has proposed legislation that would initiate a federal ban on food and beverage containers manufactured with bisphenol A (BPA). There have been previous efforts to impose a ban on such products that contain food for children and babies under three. This new legislation would extend the bill to also include adults.

The impetus for such a proposal was an announcement by Sunoco (the gas/chemical company) the day prior; the company informed investors that it had vowed not to sell BPA to companies intending to use it to manufacture any type of food or water container. Playtex and Gerber (along with six other baby bottle manufacturers) had already announced that they would not use BPA in the manufacture of their baby bottles.

The legislation is not without justification. Numerous studies have revealed that the substance causes a number of neurological and developmental problems in laboratory animals, such as genital and mammary gland abnormalities. Additionally, scientists have found toxic levels of the material in many prepackaged, microwavable food products.

Other problems with the material include incidents of breast and testicular cancer, diabetes, obesity, low sperm counts, miscarriage and other reproductive failures among lab animals. Human data has also recently linked the substance to heart disease and diabetes.

(By Rachel Stockton, and edited by Heather Kelley)