Banning BPA
19/08/2011 at 11:37 am Leave a comment
Many countries around the world have decided to take precautionary action when it comes to BPA in children’s products, with Canada & the EU banning BPA in polycarbonate baby bottles.
In addition, 8 states and 3 counties/cities in the United States have enacted bans as well (see full details in the table below).
| Country | Details of Action / Ban |
| Canada | In April 2008, Canada became the first country in the world to ban polycarbonate baby bottles containing BPA. The ban took effect in March 2010. Canada has also classified BPA as a toxic substance. |
| Germany | In June 2010, the German Government recommended BPA restrictions. |
| Denmark | In June 2010, Denmark “temporarily” banned BPA in baby bottles, sippy cups & packaging for baby food and breast milk substitutes. The ban is in effect until evidence proves BPA to be safe for young children. |
| EU | In November 2010, the EU announced that it is banning the manufacturing of polycarbonate baby bottles containing BPA from 1 March 2011 & the marketing and market placement of polycarbonate baby bottles containing BPA in stores from 1 June 2011. This is backed by a majority of EU governments. |
| United States | In March 2009, Suffolk County (New York) banned BPA-based plastic bottles & cups.
In May 2009, Minnesota became the first state to ban BPA from children’s drink containers (effective from 2010). In May 2009, the City of Chicago banned food or drink containers containing BPA intended for children under the age of 3. In June 2009, Connecticut banned BPA in infant formula, baby food cans and jars + reusable food and beverage containers. In January 2010, Wisconsin banned BPA in baby bottles & sippy cups. In January 2010, Washington State banned BPA in baby bottles, sippy cups and food containers (except metal cans). In April 2010, Maryland became the fifth state to ban BPA in baby bottles. In May 2010, Vermont banned BPA for baby food, baby formula & drink bottles (the metal food cans ban starts on 1 July 2014). In July 2010, California banned BPA in baby formula and foods. In July 2010, New York banned BPA in bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers and drinking straws effective December 2010. In December 2010, Massachusetts banned BPA in baby bottles. |
Source: “Timeline: BPA from Invention to Phase-Out“, Environmental Working Group
A number of major manufacturers and retailers have also taken action when it comes to BPA.
| Retailer / Manufacturer |
Details of Action on BPA |
| Bottle Manufacturers | In April 2008, Nalgene & Playtex announced a shift to BPA-free products[1]. |
| Major US Retailers | In April 2008, Wal-Mart & Toys-R-US announced they will be rapidly phasing out BPA-containing baby bottles[2] . |
| SIGG Drink Bottle Manufacturer | In September 2009, Sigg announced that they had switched to a BPA-free lining on their aluminium bottles in 2008 and offered to exchange old bottles for customers[3]. |
| General Mills Plans for Muir Glen Tomatoes | In April 2010, the General Mills Corporate Social Report announced that its Muir Glen label organic tomatoes will be sold in BPA-free cans beginning with the next harvest. |
| Heinz foods | In July 2010, Heinz foods removed BPA from cans sold in Australia, the UK and Ireland. Food Production Daily quotes a Heinz Australia spokesperson as saying BPA-free cans for baby food will be available within 12 months, with metal closures on glass and jars later[4]. |
| Canning Industry in Japan | Between 1998 and 2003, the canning industry in Japan voluntarily replaced their BPA-containing epoxy resin can liners with BPA-free polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in many of their products.
For other products, they switched to a different epoxy lining that yielded much less migration of BPA into food than the previously used resin. In addition, polycarbonate tableware for school lunches was replaced by BPA-free plastics. As a result of these changes, Japanese risk assessors have found that virtually no BPA is detectable in canned foods or drinks, and blood levels of BPA in people have declined dramatically (50% in one study)[5]. |
| Coles, K Mart, Target, Woolworths, Big W & Aldi | On the 30th of June 2010, the Australian Government announced that the Wesfarmers Group (Coles, K Mart, Target) and Woolworths, Big W and Aldi had decided to voluntarily phase out baby bottles containing BPA[6]. |
Source: See references below.
References:
[1] For Nalgene see: http://nalgene.com/bpa-info/. For Playtex see: http://www.playtexbaby.com/Articles/About-BPA
[2] For Walmart see – http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/17/AR2008041704205.html. For Toys ‘R’ Us see: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thecheckout/2008/04/update_toys_r_us_to_pull_bottl.html
[3] “How Green Is Your SIGG Water Bottle?”, 27 October 2009, By Bonnie Rochman for Time.
[4] “Phasing out of BPA in Heinz baby food packaging”, 08 July 2010, Heinz Australia.
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A#Japan
[6] “Government announces BPA baby bottle phase out”, 30 June 2010, by the Hon Mark Butler MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Health.
Entry filed under: Bisphenol A (BPA), Chemicals of Concern. Tags: Banning BPA, BPA.
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed