Sacramento, Ca. March 2, 2009 – Senator Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) has introduced legislation sponsored by Environmental Working Group (EWG) to reduce exposure of California’s infants and toddlers to the toxic hormone disrupting chemical bisphenol-A (BPA).
The Toxin-Free Toddlers and Babies Act (Senate Bill 797) prohibits the manufacture, sale, or distribution of any bottle or cup designed for children 3 and younger that contains more than 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) of BPA. The measure carries the same prohibition for any liquid, food or beverage designed for children 3 and under and packaged in a can or jar containing BPA at 0.1 ppb.
“Every day, children nationwide are being fed a chemical that alters brain and behavioral function in ways we still don’t fully understand,” Senator Pavley said.
"Because BPA has been linked to cancer, interference with brain development, and hormone disruption, passing this legislation will mean that millions of California children will have safer food and drinks,” said EWG’s California Government Affairs Director Bill Allayaud. “Federal laws have failed to protect our children from known hazardous chemicals. Senator Pavley has taken an important step to help keep BPA out of our kids’ bodies.”
The National Toxicology Program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has taken the stance that exposure to BPA during development may cause permanent changes in the developing brain and reproductive systems. The Canadian government has banned BPA-laden baby bottles and is currently setting a safety standard to minimize BPA levels in canned infant formula.
In 2007, EWG tested canned food and formula and found that single servings of many canned foods would result in daily exposures for adults and children at levels that caused serious adverse effects in animals. For more information about alternatives to BPA and other toxic chemicals go to EWG’s website https://www.ewg.org
Senator Carol Liu (D-La Canada) joined Senator Pavley as the bill’s principal co-author.
###
EWG is a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that uses the power of information to protect human health and the environment.
