Amy Brenneman, Actress and Mom, Takes on BPA Labeling
Is BPA (bisphenol A) just one more acronym in the alphabet soup of chemical names that we all hear about from time to time?
Well, yes it is. But it’s also one of the scarier parts of the alphabet soup. For starters, it’s one of the most widely used chemicals in the world – two billion pounds used every year in the U.S. And it has enough health and safety problems that parents forced companies to stop using it to make baby bottles and sippy cups.
But BPA is still used to make lots of things that all of us are likely to use. CEH has recently found big on-line retailers selling plastic wine glasses, plastic tumblers, plastic pitchers, and plastic 5-gallon water jugs made from plastic that contains BPA. BPA is also used to make linings for food cans, cash register receipts, electronics, DVDs, and flame retardants.
California recently proposed to identify BPA as a chemical known to cause developmental problems. Developmental problems are health problems in kids that result from exposure before birth – exposure moms receive during pregnancy. If it’s listed, products that can expose consumers to BPA would have to carry warning labels. But the state proposal doesn’t go far enough – scientists say that tiny amounts of BPA can harm us, so the state should lower the proposed threshold that would trigger labeling.
You can support this call for stronger BPA labeling, but we have just until 5pm tomorrow to take action! Join actress and mom Amy Brenneman in this petition calling for a stronger rule on BPA labeling!
Yesterday twenty-two medical and scientific researchers from Yale University, Columbia University, Tufts School of Medicine and other leading Universities, along with health advocates, sent a joint letter asking California to create an even stronger rule on BPA labeling, to protect our right to know when our children and families are exposed to levels of this chemical that can make us sick.
Amazingly, the chemical industry sued California for proposing to list BPA, claiming that “there is no scientific reason” supporting the state’s proposal. In contrast, the letter from the 22 esteemed physicians and scientists notes that “There is an enormous amount of research about developmental effects of BPA,” and cites ten recent animal studies linking low levels of BPA exposure to harm to the developing brain, mammary gland, ovaries, pituitary gland and other health concerns, as well as seven human studies linking BPA in the urine or blood of pregnant women to adverse maternal and/or child health outcomes.
Numerous health bodies have called BPA a potential threat to public health, including the Endocrine Society, the President’s Cancer Panel, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Medical Association. It’s past time for California to require labels on products with BPA. Please sign Amy Brenneman’s petition today!