MILWAUKEE — The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it is banning the use of BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups, a move critics said did not go far enough and was meaningless because most bottle manufacturers had already phased out the use of the chemical.
MILWAUKEE — The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it is banning the use of BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups, a move critics said did not go far enough and was meaningless because most bottle manufacturers had already phased out the use of the chemical.
The announcement was a response to a request from the chemical industry, which hopes the new ruling will calm public fears about bisphenol-A, a chemical used in many common products, including food containers.
U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., on Tuesday filed a petition to broaden the ban to infant formula cans, and the FDA has opened a 60-day public comment period on the matter.
Meanwhile, health and environmental groups argued the ban should cover all food products, such as the linings of soup cans.
BPA, which is also ubiquitous in cash register receipts and plastic products, has been found to play a role in behavioral problems, diabetes and cancers.
An estrogen-like chemical, BPA disrupts the body’s normal hormonal function, and traces of it can be found in the urine of more than 90 percent of Americans.
The FDA has argued that BPA’s harmful effects in rodents don’t apply to humans, and is in the process of conducting its own studies on BPA and human health.
Canada and 11 U.S. states already prohibit BPA in baby products.