The Red, White, and Green

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California Senate Bill 797 — which restricts the use of toxic chemical bisphenol A from food and beverage containers designed for children 3 years and under — is up for a vote next week. Minnesota and Chicago have already banned BPA from certain children’s products, and the passing of this bill in California could help set the wave in motion for other states to adopt similar measures (or even federal legislation).

From an e-mail I received this morning from State Senator Fran Pavley, who wrote the bill:

My bill targets these children’s feeding products because BPA leaches from these containers into food and milk — generating significant exposure to babies and toddlers who can not metabolize the harmful chemical as well as adults. It is an endocrine disruptor that acts like a hormone, and its repeated ingestion is the equivalent of giving low-level doses of birth control pills to babies on a daily basis. Well over 100 independent academic and government peer-reviewed studies have linked BPA to a host of problems, including brain and developmental damage, breast and prostate cancer, early puberty, obesity, infertility, miscarriage and hyperactivity. Young children and babies are particularly vulnerable because their body systems are still developing.

Show your support for the bill by telling your friends and family, writing a letter to your local paper, or contacting your state senator. Click here to get the contact information for the senator in your district.

–Jennifer Grayson

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