Bisphenol A - Government and Industry Response - United States

United States

Currently 11 states have banned BPA from baby bottles and children's sippy cups. In October 2011, California became the latest to enact such legislation, when it passed the Toxin-Free Infants and Toddlers Act. The American Medical Association also recently announced its support of tighter restrictions on products containing BPA.

Organizations like the American Chemistry Council (ACC) have been lobbying to make BPA federally recognized as a safe product. The ACC is composed of companies that represent 85% of chemical manufacturing capacity in the United States. The ACC position states that BPA is safe for use in products. "Government and scientific bodies around the globe have extensively evaluated the weight of scientific evidence on bisphenol A (BPA) and have declared that BPA is safe as used, including in materials that come into contact with food, such as reusable foodstorage containers and linings in metal cans."

Due to consumer pressure, by 2011 BPA was no longer being used in sippy cups and baby bottles. In October 2011, the ACC said that it had petitioned the FDA to make it clear to consumers that BPA is no longer present in those products. Steven Hentges of ACC's Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group said, "What we are trying to do is cut through the confusion and provide some clarity about sippy cups and baby bottles. We want that to be very clear, these products are not on the market. There is no need for parents or consumers to worry about them. They aren't there and they won't be in the future." In July 2012, the FDA moved to ban BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups to satisfy a request by the ACC, stating that the measure was intended to "boost consumer confidence" and not due to safety concerns. (See 2012 below)

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