CFC Supports SB 797 (Pavley) - Banning Toxics in Childrens Products - KILLED

Bill Update: SB 797 was killed in the state senate by a vote of 19 to 18 (needed 21 votes to pass). The bill had passed the Assembly by a vote of 43 to 31 (bill needed 41 votes to pass), and had cleared the Senate floor on June 2, 2009, along a party line vote of 21 to 16.

CFC Position: Support

The Consumer Federation of California Supports SB 797 (Pavley) because there is growing evidence that we should not have bisphenol A (BPA) in the products we use for eating and drinking.  This is especially true where children are concerned because of the potential for greater impacts.  The science that shows we need to restrict the use of BPA is mounting each year. 

In late 2008 the NIH’s National Toxicology Program declared its concern about the effects of low levels of BPAs on brain development, behavior, and the male reproductive systems of infants and children.  Also late last year, the FDA’s Advisory Science Board found that the FDA’s safety assessment for BPA was seriously flawed.

SB 797 (Pavley) would prohibit the manufacturing, selling, or distribution of any liquid, food, or beverage in a can or jar containing bisphenol A at a level above 0.1 ppb if the liquid, food, or beverage is intended primarily for consumption by infants or children three years of age or younger.

Some industry representatives claim that there are no alternatives for can linings, but this is simply not true.  More and more retailers have taken positive action to protect public health -- Nalgene, Wal-Mart, and Toys ‘R Us have already acted to remove BPA from their products and/or shelves, showing that alternatives for many uses are readily available and cost competitive.  Eden Foods even notes on its website that it already uses non-BPA coatings in cans of organic beans and that they are only marginally more expensive than linings with BPA. 

California needs to lead the way when it comes to protecting children from the most toxic chemicals in consumer products. We urge an AYE vote on SB 797.

More from State Senator Fran Pavley's Office:

SB 797 would remove the toxic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) from baby bottles, sippy cups, and infant formula cans -  specifically those designed for children three years or younger.

Addition: A study released this week (June, 2009) by researchers at the University of Cincinnati says that exposure to bisphenol A may increase heart disease in women.

Chemical industry executives and lobbyists have been erroneously telling legislators that they could not make BPA-free food containers, and even suggested that passage of the bill would cause a liquid formula shortage.

To counter their claims, Senator Pavley displayed to the committee a broad array of baby food and formula containers now being marketed to consumers as “BPA free” by the same companies insisting they could not comply with SB 797. These included liquid formula containers from Similac and Nestle.

Nonetheless, lobbyists representing such companies as Abbott Laboratories, producer of Similac formula; and Nestle, which owns Gerber, continue to assert that the products they currently market as BPA free would not be able to meet the standard of less than 0.1 parts per billion set forth in Senator Pavley’s bill.

The lobbyists have conceded that the baby food and formula industry uses no uniform standard to define “BPA free,” and some of the food and formula containers now being sold as such may nonetheless be laced with some of the synthetic hormone.

Despite an overwhelming preponderance of evidence that BPA is not safe for human consumption, and particularly for young, developing systems, representatives of the chemical industry continue to question the science.

A groundswell of outrage from consumers has led to proposals in 20 other states to restrict use of BPA. The Connecticut House of Representatives Wednesday passed a bill similar to Senator Pavley’s. U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein has introduced legislation that would ban the use of BPA in all food and beverage containers, not just those designed for young children.

Originally created as an artificial estrogen for women in the 1930s, BPA is widely used in shatter-resistant plastic bottles and the linings of cans. It’s an endocrine disruptor that acts like a hormone, and its repeated ingestion is the equivalent of giving low-level doses of birth control pills to babies on a daily basis. The chemical leaches from food and beverage containers into food and drink.

Well over 100 independent academic and government peer-reviewed studies have linked BPA to a host of problems, including brain and developmental damage, breast and prostrate cancer, early puberty, obesity, infertility, miscarriage and hyperactivity.

Despite the chemical industry’s insistence that it cannot function without BPA, some major companies have announced they are phasing it out. This includes six of the nation’s leading baby bottle manufacturers. The chemical manufacturer Sunoco has announced it will no longer sell BPA to companies that make food and water containers for children ages three and younger.

SB 797 is co-authored by Sen. Carol Liu and is sponsored by the Environmental Working Group.