BPA Good News: Suffolk County, Baby Bottles and More

I love good news. Really. Because for weeks on end I write about endlessly frustrating environmental health issues. And when I get news like this, I happily take notice and rejoice.

So I read this BPA news with glee. In the absence of sound governmental precautionary practices, the six largest manufacturers of baby bottles in the U.S. have decided to stop using BPA in their bottles.

I still think that glass is the safest option, because there are other questionable chemicals in plastics, and of course we have no idea what chemicals they might be replacing BPA with.

But at least all babies will not be exposed to BPA from this source anymore. Kudos to the manufacturers for acting on this issue. The progress on protecting our kids from BPA has been glacial at best thus far, so we need all the help we can get.

Did you hear about Suffolk County? A little county that could. The legislature there voted to ban BPA in children's products. Of course we need national legislation on BPA, but this is progress.

On the not so good news front Health Canada is reporting BPA is found in soda cans (not surprising). Health Canada is known for a BPA ban, the first of its kind, in that country. We all know that soda is bad for us for many reasons, so add this to the list. There is a problem of multiple exposures. We get BPA from canned foods, dental sealants, plastic bottles, soda and who knows what else. These exposures of a hormone mimicking chemical, while alone are said not to be a health risk, could be something altogether different when compounded together. Who is looking at the bigger picture?

image: Baby & Bottle by sunsurfr on Flickr