Posted by Sheila Gazlay on Mar.12, 2009

iStockphoto - unknown user

When I was little, I remember every time someone would open a can of food, whether it was fruits, vegetables, or tuna, my mom would say to put the unused portion in some other container. The reason for this was that, at the time, the uncoated metal on the inside of the cans could cause contamination that caused the food to go bad in a very short amount of time. As time went on, that metal was coated with a substance, almost a plastic, which would allow you to safely leave food in the can for longer periods of time.

The substance that allows this is called Bisphenol A and is used in these cans and even in baby sippy cups and bottles. According to the website http://www.bisphenolafree.org, Bisphenol-A is a hormone-disrupting chemical considered to be potentially harmful to human health and the environment. It has been known that scratched and worn polycarbonate feeding bottles will leach this chemical into the liquids.

The chemical is used to make plastics, such as traditional baby bottles, more pliable. As of now the industry isn’t doing much to find a useful alternative to this material. There is a ban in the U.K , though the U.S. FDA contends that not enough of the chemical is used in consumer products to be a hazard to human health. There is one lawsuit concerning this material ongoing in Florida.
Although childhood diseases such as polio are virtually eradicated, the average child is exposed to nearly 15,000 synthetic chemicals. Nearly all of these chemicals, a great amount of which is found commonly in households, all have been developed within the past 50 years.

The report which was the culmination of the First Research Conference of the Children’s Health Network sees this connection as the root cause of environmental factors’ detrimental effect on the health of young children.

Soon in the state of Washington will be, hopefully the beginning of, states recognizing the research that now exists as a result of this conference and attempting to pass “Safe Baby Bottle Act of 2009″.

IF you are concerned or want more information on how you can help in banning this chemical, go to http://www.bisphenolafree.org/

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Posted under Health & Fitness, Health Alerts.