Movement Against Bisphenol A Increases Around The World

Ottawa (eCanadaNow) - - A chemical that is found in hundreds of different common items is being linked with harmful risks to the brain and cancer.

Canada has joined others internationally calling for the total ban on bisphenol A, or BPA.  It was demonstrated in a report from the United States that there is deep concern about the chemical.

The officials in Ottawa are giving the general public 60 days to issue comments or to share about the issue.  Otherwise it will enforce its proposed ban on the usage of BPA in baby bottles if there is no additional public comment.

The use of bisphenol A is common in many plastics, including the manufacture of toys and plastic baby bottles.  Marketing giant Wal Mart has acted, saying that by next year they do not plan to have the chemical anywhere in their products or inventory.

"It's been a challenge," said Kimberly Worbeck, product manager at Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), the sporting goods retailer based in Vancouver.

Bisphenol A is found in many common products, CD’s, DVD’s, eyeglasses and literally hundreds of household goods.

Playtex Infant Care, which is a subsidiary of Energizer Holdings, has announced that its products will be converted to BPA free material by the end of 2008. Other companies are joining in the international cry against the chemical.

Multiple studies in the United States and Japan has linked the chemical with risks to young people, and to risks of cancer in the general population.

Meanwhile, the American Chemistry Council maintains that the products made with BPA are still  safe and that "consumer product bans are not supported by science."

"The weight of scientific evidence, as assessed by Health Canada and other agencies around the world, provides reassurance that consumers can continue to safely use products made from bisphenol A," stated Steven G. Hentges, Ph.D., of the American Chemistry Council's Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group. "Consumer products made from polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, including products for infants and children, are accepted as safe for use, and used, around the world."