WASHINGTON — The six major baby bottle makers in the United States have agreed to stop using the toxic chemical Bisphenol-A, suspected of harming human development, local officials said.
“All six major baby bottle companies — Avent, Disney First Years, Gerber, Dr. Brown, Playtex and Evenflow — have agreed to voluntarily ban BPA from bottles in a major public health victory,” Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a statement.
Blumenthal and his counterparts in New Jersey and Delaware wrote in October to the companies urging them to stop using the controversial chemical, widespread in plastic, after studies linked BPA to a range of health problems in infants.
Over 130 studies over the past decade have linked even low levels of BPA to serious health problems, breast cancer, obesity and the early onset of puberty, among other disorders.
“There is no excuse for this avoidable and unconscionable threat to continue,” Blumenthal said.
“I am calling for a complete ban against BPA in baby products to stop this needless and negligent public health threat.” Toxicologists at the National Institutes of Health found last year that the chemical could interfere with the brain development of fetuses and newborns.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and its European counterpart, the European Food Safety Authority, have said the chemical is safe in the amounts used in such products as baby bottles.
