Environmental Health Groups Call For Ban On Chemical Used In Making Plastic Bottles

Falls Church, VA (AHN) - Environmental health organizations in the U.S. and Canada are calling for an immediate moratorium on the use of a toxic chemical in making feeding bottles for babies and food and beverage containers.

The Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ) claimed in a report bared on Thursday that a study of Bisphenol A (BPA), originally developed as a synthetic sex hormone, showed that it leaches from plastic baby bottles when heated, thus endangering the health of infants.

"The only appropriate response to evidence that a known toxic chemical leaches from baby products is to phase it out for healthier alternatives already on the market," said Mike Schade, co-author of the report of CHEJ.

The report added that studies conducted on laboratory animals and cell cultures show that BPA is linked to obesity, diabetes, breast cancer and other illness, even at low doses.

As part of the groups' campaign to ban BPA, the CHEJ, together with the MOMsquad Illinois, Clean New York and the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals will hold a teleconference on Feb. 7 to announce the results of the study entitled "Baby's Toxic Bottle: Bisphenol A Leaching from Popular Baby Bottles."

The study was led by Wade Welshons, PhD., from the University of Missouri.