FDA bans BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups. © Getty images.
WASHINGTON DC, US: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that baby bottles and children’s drinking cups could no longer contain bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogen-mimicking industrial chemical used in some plastic bottles and food packaging. Manufacturers have already stopped using the chemical in baby bottles and sippy cups, and the FDA said that its decision was a response to a request by the American Chemistry Council that rules allowing BPA in those products be phased out, in part to boost consumer confidence.
The American Chemistry Council had asked the FDA to take action because of confusion, stirred by state legislative and regulatory actions, about whether baby bottles and cups for toddlers contain BPA. The chemical can leach into food, and a study of over 2,000 people found that more than 90 per cent of them had BPA in their urine. Traces have also been found in breast milk, the blood of pregnant women and umbilical cord blood.
The new prohibition does not apply more broadly to the use of BPA in other containers, the decision did not amount to a reversal of the agency’s position on the chemical. The FDA declared BPA safe in 2008, but began expressing concerns about possible health risks in 2010, said Steven Immergut, an FDA spokesman.
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