Personal Injury Lawyers in New York

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a synthetic hormone used in some plastics manufacturing. When the plastic is heated it can leach out, and some of the products that contain it are water bottles, baby bottles and sippy cups. The Canadian government is apparently preparing to declare it a toxin.

The Walmart Canadian division announced on Wednesday that it would no longer sell any pacifiers, water bottles, baby bottles, sippy cups, or food containers made with BPA. In the U.S., Walmart announced yesterday (April 17, 2008) that it would sell only BPA-free baby bottles by early next year.

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) Draft Report

The NTP is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and has done BPA experiments on rats, exposing them to BPA levels analogous to human exposure. They issued a draft report on April 14. They found that the rats developed urinary problems, prostate tumors, and early puberty.

The draft report states that human exposure to BPA is mostly through food and drinks. BPA can leach into food from the container, from an internal resin coating on the container. It leaches more as the temperature of the food or drink increases, but not more if the container is older. Workers in plastics manufacturing plants can be exposed to it on the job. We are also exposed to it through the air, dust and water around us, but this is not significant exposure.

The degree of a person’s exposure to BPA can be measured by testing body fluids such as blood, urine or breast milk. So far, the highest exposure has been found in infants and children. In the draft report, several reasons are advanced for this:

• Pound for pound, children eat and drink more than adults
• They spend more time on the floor or ground
• They tend to put more things in their mouths and may even eat soil or objects found on the soil or floor

The NTP concluded in its draft report that:

…there is some concern for neural and behavioral effects in fetuses, infants, and children at current human exposures. The NTP also has some concern for Bisphenol A exposure in these populations based on effects in the prostate gland, mammary gland, and an earlier age for puberty in females.

The italics on the word “some” are in contrast to later text where italics are on the word “negligible”. The NTP has negligible concern about BPA causing any birth defects, and about adults sustaining any reproductive problems, although it has minimal concern “for workers exposed to higher levels in occupational settings”.

More studies will surely be done and will give us more definite information. Meanwhile, it would be as well to buy BPA-free products, and if you are wondering about possible negative effects in your small children, please give us a call, or send an email. We will be glad to give you a free consultation and information as to your legal options.