On April 18, Canada said it may soon ban the “importation, sale and advertising of polycarbonate baby bottles” (see below and on following page). Tony Clement, Canada’s minister of health, announced that his country would be the first in the world to limit exposure to bisphenol A, a synthetic chemical that mimics estrogen. For decades, BPA has been used widely in the manufacture of clear plastic bottles and in the lining of metal cans, including the cans that infant formula comes in. A growing body of evidence indicates that BPA may threaten the safety of infants in early development, particularly when their food containers have been exposed to heat (through bottle sterilization or the pouring of boiling water into a can of dry formula). The Canadian government is warning citizens that BPA could “affect reproduction” and influence “neural development and behaviour” in those who are exposed to it. In response to such complaints, manufacturers of infant bottles have started developing and introducing products without BPA.
Risks stemming from exposure to BPA have been known for years, and in 2007 the U.S. Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment officially documented the “developmental and reproductive toxicity” of BPA. But the Food and Drug Administration, which relies on industry studies to determine product safety, has yet to take similar precautions, despite repeated demands from Congress.
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Correction, April 28, 2008: Due to an editing error, a headline on Slate’s home page for this article misspelled Ottawa.
