Canada says chemical in plastic bottles unsafe

The State ^ | Apr. 19, 2008 | ROB GILLIES

[neverdem]

Associated Press

Substance found in everyday items linked to changes in rats’ behavior, brains and precancerous tendencies

TORONTO — A ubiquitous chemical found in hard plastic water bottles, DVDs, CDs and hundreds of other common items came under increased pressure Friday when Canada labeled it dangerous and said it might ban its use in baby bottles.

Health Canada made the announcement shortly after a U.S. company said it would stop selling hard-plastic Nalgene water bottles made with bisphenol A because of growing consumer concern over whether the chemical poses a health risk.

Health Canada is the first regulatory body in the world to call bisphenol A dangerous. It could be the first step in Canada banning the chemical altogether.

Earlier this week, the U.S. government’s National Toxicology Program said there is “some concern” about BPA from experiments on rats that linked the chemical to changes in behavior and the brain, early puberty and possibly precancerous changes in the prostate and breast. While such animal studies provide only “limited evidence” of risk, the draft report said a possible effect on humans “cannot be dismissed.”

In Canada, Health Minister Tony Clement said a draft report on bisphenol A has found the chemical endangers people — particularly newborns and infants — and the environment.

Ottawa is giving the public 60 days to comment on the report and Clement said it will ban its use in baby bottles if no new relevant information comes forward.

Earlier this week, Wal-Mart Canada and other major retailers in Canada began removing BPA-based food-related products such as baby bottles and sipping cups from store shelves.

Citing multiple studies in the United States, Europe and Japan, the chemicals industry maintains that polycarbonate bottles contain little BPA and leach traces considered too low to harm humans.

But critics point to an influx of animal studies linking low doses to a wide variety of ailments — from breast and prostate cancer, obesity and hyperactivity, to miscarriages and other reproductive failures.

“I think the writing’s on the wall for this chemical,” said Aaron Freeman, policy director of Toronto-based Environmental Defence Canada. “You’ve got major retailers with huge market clout pulling BPA products ... and you’ve got consumers in droves who are opting for alternatives. They’re a bit late to the game, but they are responding to that consumer demand.”

[neverdem]

Bill Hogan
Nalgene bottles like this one could be replaced because of the unsafe chemical they contain.

What’s next

In Washington a key Democratic senator said the chemical bisphenol A should be banned from all children’s products and food-packing containers. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, plans to introduce a bill Monday banning the chemical and funding a public health campaign on its potential risks to infants. Other lawmakers are expected to propose similar measures.

Bottle maker to stop using plastic

Nalgene, the brand that popularized water bottles made from hard, clear and nearly unbreakable polycarbonate, will stop using the plastic because of growing concern over one of its ingredients.

Nalgene bottles have been marketed as an environmentally responsible substitute for disposable water bottles.

Nalgene’s decision to drop the plastic that transformed it from an obscure maker of laboratory equipment into a consumer brand does not mean the company is leaving the drinking-bottle business. It has long made bottles from other plastics that lack the glasslike transparency and rigidity that made polycarbonate popular.

In March, Nalgene also introduced a line of bottles made from a relatively new plastic from the Eastman Chemical Co., Tritan Copolyester, that shares most of polycarbonate’s properties, including shatter-resistance, but is made without BPA. Eastman makes the Tritan plastic at its Sandy Run plant in Calhoun County.

About bisphenol A

With more than 6 million pounds produced in the United States each year, bisphenol A (BPA) is found in dental sealants, baby bottles, the liners of food cans, CDs and DVDs, eyeglasses and hundreds of household goods.

The United States’ National Toxicology Program released a draft report on Tuesday reporting that some rats fed or injected with low doses of BPA developed precancerous tumors and urinary tract problems and reached puberty early.

While the report said the animal tests provided “limited evidence” it also noted that the “possibility that bisphenol-a may alter human development cannot be dismissed.”

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Looks like the Global Nanny is going after plastics now.

[doc1019]

Life is unsafe; we all eventually die from it. ;-)

[11th Commandment]

I hope they don't contain di-hydrogen Oxide!!!

[doc1019]

LOL!

[headstamp 2]

“I hope they don’t contain di-hydrogen Oxide!!!”

High-Speed Ectapolychromaticnitrazine.

Now that’s a real killer.

[PAR35]

Glad to see that someone is willing to stand up for imports from China.

Suppliers for Bisphenol A diphosphate
http://www.chemblink.com/productSuppliers/181028-79-5_suppliers.htm

[mtbopfuyn]

There’s cancer cells in mother’s milk, so is that/them next on the list?

[doc1019]

Says you! By the way, what is “Ectapolychromaticnitrazine”, if I might be so stupid as to ask? ;-)

[tubebender]

I’m not worried. I never eat the bottles anyway...

[Retired Chemist]

I used Nalgene lab ware in my job.

[headstamp 2]

The primary chemical component in the main Thelllmannn Wire in most homes built in the US.

[woofie]

Once I was drinking a coke and a guy told me that lab rats had died drinking coca cola. I informed him I was aware of that and was happy the lab rats in my bloodstread were no longer living due to the cokes I drank

[TheWasteLand]

Interesting. It would be good to find a (at least partial) cause for early onset of puberty in girls - a phenomenon that has been observed in North America over the last few decades.

[doc1019]

Thank you. ;-)

[shhrubbery!]

It would be good to find a (at least partial) cause for early onset of puberty in girls - a phenomenon that has been observed in North America over the last few decades.

I doubt it has anything to do with plastic bottles.

Average age of menarche had been declining for several decades in the 20th century, in industrialized countries, probably due to better nutrition.

But "improved" nutrition has now morphed into over-nutrition for many children. And at the same time, many children today do not get as much exercise as did children of previous generations.

So we have a lot of fat children. Obesity causes an increase in estrogen production. My guess is that's the main cause of extremely early puberty.

[Taffini]

LOLOLOLOL....

[AUsome Joy]

Today a guy tried to convince me that the early cause of puberty in girls was because there were soy bean products in everything.

[TheLion]

Was listening to talk radio one night and they were talking about the plastic in bottled waters leeching into the water during the summer when the unrefrigerated trucks reach high temperatures. Makes you wonder, since most bottled water is not shipped cool.

[wolfcreek]

“Average age of menarche had been declining for several decades in the 20th century, in industrialized countries”

Polycarbonate has been manufactured since 1949.

Hormonal and chemical imbalances are leading components in the causes for many diseases and disorders.