by Peggy O'Crowley/The Star-Ledger
Tuesday February 26, 2008, 5:47 PM
New Jersey is joining a growing number of states seeking to ban
potentially toxic chemicals found in name-brand children's baby
bottles, toys, powders and lotions.
Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex) introduced a bill this
week to bar the sale and manufacture of any children's products
containing two chemicals, bisphenol A and phthalates. Sen. Loretta
Weinberg (D-Bergen) is expected to introduce a companion bill in the
upper house, Greenstein said.
Studies of these chemicals have linked them to
birth defects and other problems in animals, though there is no
scientific evidence of harm to humans. Based on a review of several
studies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has determined the
current use of the two chemicals is safe, according to an FDA statement
released yesterday.
Nonetheless, the call to ban them is growing. California banned
phthalates last fall, and bills are pending to outlaw either or both
chemicals in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Maine and
Minnesota. On the federal level, Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak
(both D-Mich.) last month announced an investigation into the use of
bisphenol A in products used by infants and children. Some forms of
phthalates have been banned by the European Union.
Greenstein said she decided to sponsor the bill based on her own
evaluation of the latest microbiological evidence, citing a recent
study of baby bottles containing bisphenol A, a synthetic estrogen used
to make hard, clear or tinted polycarbonate plastic. Besides its
presence in nearly all baby bottles, it is also found in some
children's sip cups, Nalgene plastic bottles, and the linings of infant
formula cans.
The study at the University of Missouri found that when the bottles
were heated, they leached amounts of bisphenol A proven harmful in
animal studies, and therefore potentially harmful to infants, according
to a coalition of health advocacy groups that sponsored the study.
In a statement released recently, Avent, a manufacturer of one of
the bottles included in the study, maintained its products have been
deemed safe by the FDA and meet the latest European standards for
children's bottles. The other bottles were made by Evenflo, Disney/The
First Years, Gerber and Playtex, according to the study.
The latest study of phthalates, by a University of Washington
pediatrician, found elevated levels of the chemical in the urine of
babies whose parents had recently given them shampoos or baths or
powdered them with products made with phthalates.
The chemical is used to make plastic flexible and is found in toys,
cosmetics, vinyl flooring, air fresheners and baby grooming products.
Read the full story in Wednesday's Star-Ledger.
