It's Official: Canada Declares Bisphenol A Toxic
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.19.08
Canadian Health Minister Tony Clement (pictured left) announced yesterday that Bisphenol A would be listed as a toxic substance and banned the use of polycarbonate plastic baby bottles. His Ministry will also tell baby food manufacturers to get it out of the linings of infant formula cans. The chemical has been blamed for conditions including cancer, declining sperm counts and early puberty in girls.
“We believe that the current safety margin needs to be higher. We have concluded that it is better to be safe than sorry,” Mr. Clement told a news conference yesterday in Ottawa, announcing the decision as “precautionary action.”
Martin Mittelstaedt, who has been reporting on BPA for years and deserves great credit for being an early voice in the wilderness, reports:
“This is the first time in living memory that our federal government has taken such a leadership position in the world on an issue like this,” commented Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence, an advocacy group. “I think oftentimes Canadians want … to know that our country is doing right in the world, and in this particular case today it's actually happening.”
The FDA in the States still says it is safe, based on two studies funded by the American Chemistry Council. ::Globe and Mail
So, anyone have thoughts on sippy cups for toddlers now? I see Nuby sippys in the photo which is what we use. Time for a change I guess.
What continues to baffle and enrage me is how quickly retailers and Government can jump to removing these products and label BPA a "Dangerous Substance" all because of some not-yet-understood health risks. And yet they can't bring themselves to label TOBACCO PRODUCTS as "Dangerous Substances" even though we clearly know that the health risks are ASTRONOMICAL.
The health risks to infants and the unborn fetus from second hand smoke have been extensively studied and clearly documented, and yet the government refuses to take the same swift action to remove cigarettes to protect the public.
If they remove BPA products and leave tobacco on the shelves, they have made a mockery of Health Canada,
Tobacco products:
- Are Highly addictive
- Kill more than 25,000 Canadians every year! (more than 8 times the death toll from 9/11)
- Have no other purpose except to addict and eventually kill the user.
And yet cigarettes sit on the store shelves growing ever larger health warnings and waiting for their next victim. The government is far too addicted to the taxes and the tobacco lobby money to really protect the public from an entirely preventable health crisis.
Every cent that the government or retailers get from the sale of tobacco products is Blood Money.
I often get confused with the number of different types of plastic, what's even more confusing the makers of plastic containers use a numbering system and I can never remember which number types are which, so can someone tell me what number types I should be avoiding?
http://www.bisphenolafree.org/
I found a smart plastics PDF file in the far right column of this page that lays out all the plastics and gets into what they do - im only on the 2nd page and so far its been very helpful.
with your food use 4,5,1 & 2 all the rest arent good for you.
just read that in the smart plastics guide.
"The chemical has been blamed for conditions including cancer, declining sperm counts and early puberty in girls."
Youch, low sperm counts AND early puberty in girls, plus cancer to boot. Man, girls really do have it tough... I wonder what that stuff does to boys?
And as for the numbering, watch out for branding number 7 among the baddies. All it means is "Other" and there can be good "others" - for instance all my corn-plastic stuff is labeled 7. Problems of corn plastic production aside, as far as I know, it's safe to drink out of it...
an absolute must read to understand some of the goings on with plastics as far as what can leach out ansd some horror-fying effects, is 'Altering Eden: the feminization of nature' compiled by Deborah Cadbury
one of which are synthetic estrogens that were suspected of its potential dire effects in the late 1930's, by the DES(Diethylstilbestrol) creator Leon Goldburg -1938
since it (DES) was neither patented and cheap to synthesize from coal tar, damn did it get out there!
as many as 10 millions mothers from 1941-71 (just in the U.S,) were prescribed the stuff to prevent miscarriage, resulted in daughters with a rare cancer (Adenocarcinoma) and boys more prone to a range of deformities such as undescended testes, micropenis, hermaphrodism, hypospadias and the list goes on... not to mention third generation children
AND, be very specific of the type of "corn" plastic that is used, as some unscrupulous manufacturers just cut their regular product so that it breaks down into tiny microscopic bits and then we never get rid of it
on the sippy cup front.. how about a nice wooden cup made from maple