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Tired of wondering how much toxic BPA you ate for dinner? Frustrated that the federal government has failed to take the most basic step of phasing out this hazardous, unnecessary substance from food and beverage containers?
Please join parents, health professionals, legislators, and concerned citizens from around the state as we stand up in support of Connecticut’s House Bill 6572 to phase out BPA from products that come in contact with our food. This is your chance to stand with a 35’ giant baby bottle, swap your toxic baby bottle for a complimentary BPA-free bottle, and talk with your legislators along with other members of the Coalition for a Safe & Healthy Connecticut. Bring a child, bring a sign, bring a friend, or just bring yourself!
EVENT DETAILS:
Who: Parents, health professionals, legislators, and concerned citizens from around the state What: Rally in support of legislation to phase out BPA When: Tuesday April 14th, 10:30am-11:30am Where: Legislative Office Building's Minuteman Park, 300 Capitol Avenue, Hartford CT (Rain location TBD)
Minuteman Park is the grassy area in front of Legislative Office Building and the State Armory, 300 Capitol Avenue, Hartford CT.
Visitor parking is typically available in the Legislative Office Building parking garage. Arrive early to allow time for parking.
The legislative agenda is the master plan for this session’s lobbying, research and issue communications with members focusing on five main areas of public interest.
A federal law outlawing the sale of children’s products with toxic chemicals took effect last week, but largely blunted by exemptions given to stores panicking over the law’s new expenses.
A provision of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, passed in August, prohibits the manufacture and sale of children’s products with lead, a well-known neurotoxin, and phthalates, plastic-softening chemicals linked to breast cancer, infertility and other health problems. Manufacturers and retailers were given until Feb. 10 to comply with the standards.
But shelves in thrift stores, libraries and consignment stores across the country are filled with toys, books and clothing manufactured before the standards were passed.
As the date for implementing the laws drew near, misinformation and questions swirled on the Internet. Confusion was largely focused on the cost of testing and who is responsible for verifying toys comply with the 600 part per million standard set for the first year of the law. Ultimately, products will need to meet a maximum of 100 ppm by 2012.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a toxic chemical commonly used in plastic bottles, in spite of its links to several serious health problems like heart disease and liver failure. That alone is reason enough to support banning its use in products. Manufacturers who use BPA in their products have been able to downplay the risks by citing research indicating that levels of BPA declined quickly.
[Environmental health scientist Richard] Stahlhut says that it appears that the amount of BPA in the body drops relatively rapidly from four to nine hours after exposure, but then levels out. "After the nine hours or so," he says, "it stops doing what it's supposed to and the decline goes flat."
[...]
"This suggests substantial nonfood exposure, accumulation in body tissues such as fat, or both," the researchers wrote in their paper released today by Environmental Health Perspectives.
That may explain why 93 percent of Americans carry BPA in their bodies, according to the CDC, or it could be that exposure is coming through different routes than food, such as the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes often used for water lines in modern homes.
[...]
The U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Toxicology Program—a government program that coordinates federal studies of chemicals' adverse effects—warns that BPA exposure may lead to abnormal development in infants and the Canadian government last year banned its use in baby bottles. But the American Chemistry Council, U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maintain that BPA is safe.
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BPA is now present in 95% of Americans.1 During the last few decades, the substance has become a key ingredient in plastics and resins used in food and beverage containers, and now more than 180 studies link low-dose exposure to many diseases of modern life.2
Most of the clear, shatterproof plastics used to make baby bottles, food storage containers, small kitchen appliances, and rigid water bottles include this material. It is also used in the linings of food, infant formula, beer, and soft drink cans.
BPA has been known as an endocrine disruptor since the 1930s,3 and in the past 10 years, BPA exposure has been linked to a long list of diseases and disorders ranging from infertility, obesity, early puberty, breast and prostate cancer, to diabetes, thyroid malfunction and even attention deficit disorders. These linkages have been observed at extremely low doses, to which most Americans are exposed.4
HealthyToys.org has updated its website for this holiday season with a searchable database of the chemical test results on over 1,500 children's toys. As reported in the Hartford Courant, Connecticut was one of the first states to ban lead and asbestos in children's products, but more stringent national restrictions have yet to take effect.
Because toys do not come with a list of chemical ingredients, the HealthyToys.org website is a critically important resource for anybody shopping for a little one. Fortunately, there are three easy ways to access the information in the HealthyToys.org database:
The have also compiled two lists. Their list of the best toys includes 268 products with no detectable traces of Lead, Cadmium, Chlorine, Arsenic, Mercury, Antimony, Tin, Bromine, or Chromium in any components tested. Their list of the worst toys includes those containing Lead, Bromine, Cadmium, Arsenic, and Mercury.
Environmental group says many items for sale have high levels of lead, arsenic and other chemicals.
By Catherine Clifford, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: December 3, 2008: 5:03 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- One in three toys tested was found to contain toxic chemicals such as lead, flame retardants and arsenic, according to a report issued Wednesday by an environmental group.
Researchers for the Michigan-based Ecology Center tested more than 1,500 popular toys for lead, cadmium, arsenic, PVC and other harmful chemicals. They said they found that one-third of the toys contain "medium" or "high" levels of chemicals of concern.
"Our hope is that by empowering consumers with this information, manufacturers and lawmakers will feel the pressure to start phasing out the most harmful substances immediately, and to change the nation's laws to protect children from highly toxic chemicals," said Ecology Center's Jeff Gearhart, who led the research, in a written release.
MAY 3 SOLAR TOUR & SEMINAR TO BE HELD IN CANTON, CT
On Saturday, May 3, a special solar tour and seminar will be held in Canton, Connecticut. The tour will showcase an outstanding passive solar timber frame home with solar energy systems that were installed in three stages. This is the 50th solar house tour sponsored by People’s Action for Clean Energy; it is co-sponsored by the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund.
Space is limited! To make reservations and for more information, please visit People’s Action for Clean Energy at www.pace-cleanenergy.org
Tired of wondering how much toxic BPA you ate for dinner? Frustrated that the federal government has failed to take the most basic step of phasing out this hazardous, unnecessary substance from food and beverage containers?
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Most of the clear, shatterproof plastics used to make baby bottles, food storage containers, small kitchen appliances, and rigid water bottles include this material. It is also used in the linings of food, infant formula, beer, and soft drink cans.
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