Chicago becomes the first major US city to ban BPA in bottles and sippy cups

Harvard study confirms BPA scares and concerns

A new Harvard study reveals that the potentially dangerous chemical BPA is getting into our bodies. Participants who drank from bottles with BPA, a plastic hardener, showed a two-thirds increase in their urine of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA). Exposure to BPA, used in the manufacture of polycarbonate and other plastics, has been shown to interfere with reproductive development in animals and has been linked with cardiovascular disease and diabetes in humans. The study is the first to show that drinking from polycarbonate bottles increased the level of urinary BPA, and thus suggests that drinking containers made with BPA release the chemical into the liquid that people drink in sufficient amounts to increase the level of BPA excreted in human urine.

First-Ever Statewide Ban of BPA Adopted in Minnesota

Minnesota is the first US State to ban BPA from baby bottles and sippy cups. California and Connecticut are soon to follow suit along with several other States and cities.

BPA is a strengthening agent in many hard clear plastics. It is also used in the lining of cans and myriad everyday products from CDs to eyeglass lenses.

The Food and Drug Administration agreed in December to reconsider the issue of the hazards of BPA, after it received criticism from its own advisory board for a draft risk assessment it issued in August saying that the levels of BPA to which children and adults are exposed do not pose a meaningful risk. The chemical appears to have estrogen-like effects, and in animal studies it appears to accelerate puberty and pose a cancer risk. Other studies have linked BPA to higher risk of heart disease and diabetes in adults.

Twenty-four states have pending legislation restricting BPA, but with its labeling requirement