Yesterday, the California Assembly Health Committee approved the Toxics-Free Babies and Toddlers Act (SB 797), which would ban bisphenol A, or BPA, from food and drink containers designed for children ages three and younger. BPA, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to breast cancer and other serious health problems, is used in some plastic baby bottles and sippy cups, as well as in the lining of infant formula cans. The bill, which has already passed the Senate, will now be voted on by the full Assembly, likely in August. If it passes, it will go to the Governor’s desk and hopefully become law by September.
While environmental health advocates are cheering, the BPA industry is fuming. Our Policy Manager Gretchen Lee Salter, who was testifying at the Capitol yesterday, reported on more (and more desperate) industry shenanigans. Among their arguments to the committee on why toxic BPA should continue to be allowed to leach from baby bottles into developing babies’ bodies was this choice reasoning: BPA is so ubiquitous that it is found in breast milk, so perhaps breast milk would be banned under this bill. Our response: BPA is in breast milk because it leaches from food containers! BPA does not naturally occur in breast milk...give us a break!
Luckily, the committee had the sense to see through industry’s desperate logic. As Gretchen put it, “The chemical industry put on a full-court press and Assembly Health Committee members got an earful from industry lobbyists. Ultimately, legislators saw that the science against BPA is just too strong, and that kids had to come before high-priced lobbyists.”
Now we’re getting back to work to make sure the full Assembly does the same.
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