Washington Toxics Coalition Bill Banning Bisphenol A in Baby Bottles Fails

Ivy Sager-Rosenthal is the campaign director for the Washington Toxics Coalition. The Washington Toxics Coalition protects public health and the environment by eliminating toxic pollution. WTC promotes alternatives, advocates policies, empowers communities and educates people to create a healthy environment.

The Washington State Legislature finished the 2009 Legislative Session without passing the Safe Baby Bottle Act (HB1180/SB 5282), a bill to eliminate the hormone-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA) from baby bottles and sippy cups. Despite passing by an overwhelming margin in the House with a bipartisan vote of 76-21, the bill failed to garner enough votes to pass the Senate in the waning hours of the session.

Sponsored by Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D-36) and Sen. Karen Keiser (D-33), the bill would have made Washington the first state in the nation to enact a ban on BPA in children’s products. Both Rep. Dickerson and Sen. Keiser, along with Rep. Zach Hudgins (D-11), Rep. Tom Campbell (R-2), countless parents, health professionals, children’s advocacy groups and environmentalists, were instrumental in moving the bill through the legislative process and getting it to the point that it was still being considered in the last moments of a tough legislative session.

BPA is a hormone-disrupting chemical used in polycarbonate plastic baby bottles, sippy cups and other containers. It is also used in many food cans and food packaging, including soft drinks and canned fruits and vegetables. It has come under intense scrutiny by the scientific community as more and more evidence has shown even a small amount can cause health problems. A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control found BPA present in 93 percent of people tested, with children having the highest levels.

Research links BPA to health effects including cancer, miscarriage, obesity, reproductive problems and hyperactivity. Research also shows exposure to BPA may put young girls at an increased risk of breast cancer.

Opponents of the bill included the chemical industry trade group, the American Chemistry Council, and retail giant Wal-Mart. Despite mounting scientific evidence showing BPA is harmful, their lobbyists successfully launched a misinformation campaign designed to discredit the science around BPA and obscure the truth.

The American Chemistry Council counts among its members such makers of BPA as Dow Chemical and Bayer MaterialScience. This is the same industry that has said for years that lead, PCBs, and toxic flame retardants are perfectly safe. Despite their financial conflict of interest, they flew in their “experts” from across the country to testify at committee hearings and meet with legislators. Unfortunately, their tactics worked, raising just enough questions to convince the Senate not to bring the bill up for a vote.

Wal-Mart’s attempts to weaken the bill are especially outrageous because of the retailer’s recent pledge to stop selling BPA-containing baby bottles in its stores. Parents, consumers and health advocates greeted this pledge with enthusiasm and lauded Wal-Mart for putting children’s health first.

Yet Wal-Mart attempted to severely undermine Washington state’s attempts to phase out BPA-containing baby bottles and sippy cups. The retailer pursued an amendment to the Safe Baby Bottle Act that would have allowed high levels of BPA in children’s products. The levels Wal-Mart requested would have meant that the same baby bottles it pledged to remove from its stores would have been legal to continuing selling. If Wal-Mart had been successful in getting their amendment attached to the legislation, they legally wouldn’t have had to fulfill their pledge at all.

More than 30 health, environmental, consumer and children’s advocates pitched in to fight the good fight and support the bill. Special thanks goes to the Washington State Nurses Association, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, League of Women’s Voters, American Academy of Pediatrics – Washington State Chapter, WashPIRG, Washington Conservation Voters, Washington Environmental Council and EarthMinistry, all of whom pitched in at key times and helped keep the legislation alive to very end of the session.

Extra kudos goes to Washington Toxic Coalition’s (WTC) activists who phonebanked, collected postcards, attended lobby day and sent emails at critical times. The highlight of the campaign came when, buoyed by a 20-foot inflatable baby bottle, more than 75 supporters joined WTC in Olympia to lobby their legislators, rally in front of the Capitol building, and deliver more than 3,500 postcards signed by citizens in all legislative districts of the state to express support for the bill to legislators.

In fact, lobby day was so successful that not only did the bill pass the House on that day, but it also garnered the attention of an opposition lobbyist who was spotted taking pictures of the rally and inflatable baby bottle. We can only assume he sent the pictures to his out-of-state bosses to show them the tremendous support for banning BPA in Washington.

Despite the Safe Baby Bottle Act’s failure to pass this session, it’s clear BPA’s days in food and beverage containers are numbered. Major baby bottle manufacturers, including Avent and Playtex, have started phasing out the use of BPA in their products. Nalgene and Camelbak, makers of sports water bottles, have already made the switch to BPA-free materials.

Many governments are taking action to remove BPA from children’s food containers. Suffolk County, New York, Chicago, Minnesota and Connecticut recently passed BPA bans similar to the one proposed in Washington state. BPA legislation is pending in at least 18 other states as well, including California, Wisconsin and New York. Canada has also declared BPA a hazardous chemical and is moving forward with regulations to ban the chemical in children’s food and beverage containers.

Recently, the head of the federal Food and Drug Administration announced that the agency will review its previous finding that BPA is safe for use in consumer products. The announcement came days after revelations surfaced in the Washington Post and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the canning industry, including Coca-Cola, was planning a public relations campaign aimed at mothers, particularly pregnant women, and minorities to tout the benefits of BPA and drive consumers away from BPA-free packaging.

WTC plans to pursue the Safe Baby Bottle Act again in the 2010 Legislative Session. However, in the meantime, at the federal level, the Ban Poisonous Additives Act of 2009, sponsored by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), would eliminate the use of bisphenol A from food and beverage containers. This provides Washington’s congressional delegation with the opportunity to finish the job the state Senate couldn’t and protect Washington state’s children from BPA.

To ask your congressional delegation to support a federal BPA ban, visit http://www.watoxics.org and click on the Take Action box on the right hand side. For more information on BPA, the Safe Baby Bottle Act, and other toxics issues, visit http://www.watoxics.org. §