A few times on We All Live Downstream, Lynn Thorp, myself and and others have discussed Clean Water Action's work on chemical policy. Since the beginning of this year, several states and other municipalities have taken action against Bisphenol-A (BPA). More than 200 studies have shown that human exposure to BPA, even at low doses, is linked to heart disease and cancer, as well neurological, immunological, and reproductive problems. The problem is that we've learned about these dangerous health effects of BPA after it has been in an array of consumer products--from canned food liners to water bottles--for years.
Across the country, the U.S. Geological Survey has found BPA, and a host of other chemicals, in our ground, surface and drinking water. These chemicals are used in plastics, cosmetics, household cleaners, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals, but we have no standards for the appropriate level of environmental or human exposure for many of them. And these chemicals are in our water.
Many Americans understandably assume that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is testing products and chemicals, so the products we can buy in stores are safe. This is not necessarily the case. On BPA, the FDA was broadly criticized by its own advisory board and other health experts for basing its August 2008 determination that BPA is safe only on studies funded by the chemical industry. The FDA has now been forced to reconsider its position on the issue. Among other serious flaws noted by the advisory board: the industry-funded studies did not consider newborn exposure and health in their assessment, and the studies ignored basics like increased BPA leaching from baby bottles when parents sterilize or warm formula.
This makes BPA a symbol of a much broader problem--our need to evaluate chemicals before they reach the marketplace, and to develop safer alternatives to chemicals we already know to be toxic. Clean Water Action is working across the country to protect our water, our communities, and our health by pushing to reform our chemical policy standards at the state and federal level.
Pressure from consumers has already made a difference--many retailers and manufacturers have taken the lead to eliminate BPA from their products. Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and Sears are just a few of the national chains that are phasing out baby bottles containing BPA. The nation's six largest baby bottle manufacturers announced earlier this spring that they have either already eliminated or will phase BPA out of their product lines, and companies such as Nalgene and Eden Foods have taken voluntary actions to remove BPA from products intended for use by adults of reproductive age, such as sports bottles and food cans.
But BPA is only part of the problem. Clean Water Action is working for a better system to protect our communities, our water, and our health. We need to do more than banning chemicals one by one--and then only after we realize they're hazardous, and have made their way into our water.
We'll keep you posted on our progress, and ask for your help, in The BPA Diaries, a new occasional series on this topic on We All Live Downstream.