Baby bottles containing bisphenol A, a controversial chemical widely used in plastics but increasingly linked to serious health effects, will no longer be sold in the United States, according to the six largest manufacturers of the products. They include Playtex Products Inc., Gerber, Evenflo Co., Avent America Inc., Dr. Brown and Disney First Years.

 

The decision was made after Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal together with the attorneys general in Connecticut and New Jersey, wrote to the bottle manufacturers and asked them to voluntarily stop using the chemical.

 

“The evidence seems too clear and emphatic and unequivocal to say we should simply permit this stuff to go into children on a massive scale. And there’s no reason for it, because there are substitutes available,” Blumenthal said.

 

Bisphenol A has been under fire since April 2008 when the National Toxicology Program declared the chemical harmful. Since then, studies on the chemical began pouring, with almost all of them requiring the ban on the chemical. The controversial organic compound is commonly used in baby bottles and canned foods. The FDA in August 2008 declared BPA safe to the delight of the industry and in spite of environmentalist groups supporting the ban.

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 93 percent of Americans have traces of bisphenol A in their urine, but the quantity is not harmful.

 

Consumer safety groups say the bisphenol A, which is a synthetic hormone similar to estrogen, can interfere with how the body absorbs the natural hormone estrogen, which is needed in the development of young bodies. The chemical appears to accelerate puberty and pose a cancer risk. Some other reports, focusing on bisphenol A’s repercussions on adults suggest that it may interfere with chemotherapy. Also, the chemical has been tied to higher risk for heart disease and diabetes.

 

On the other hand, the American Chemistry Council, and industry group that represents companies that make bisphenol A repeated its opinion this week saying the FDA declared the current levels of the chemical safe in food bottles and containers.