I have written extensively about BPA or Bisphenol A on this blog. It is a 
hormone mimicking chemical that can be found in some plastic types. It is most commonly found in baby bottles, water bottles, kids feeding items (cups, plates, bowls, utensils) toys, etc.
Today I saw an investigative journalism report from Fast Company that takes the BPA issue and really tells it like it. They accuse plastics manufacturers and chemical companies that make BPA of using the same tactics used by Big Tobacco to fund fraudulent studies and sow seeds of doubt about their dangerous product.
They did their own in depth investigation and found that the BPA debate is nothing but “a battle to protect a multibillion-dollar market from regulation”. This quote was especially telling:
Just five companies make BPA in the United States: Bayer, Dow, Hexion Specialty Chemicals, SABIC Innovative Plastics (formerly GE Plastics), and Sunoco. Together, they bring in more than $6 billion a year from the compound.
Of the more than 100 independently funded experiments on BPA, about 90% have found evidence of adverse health effects at levels similar to human exposure. On the other hand, every single industry-funded study ever conducted — 14 in all — has found no such effects.
It is a long article but worth the read with shocking info about scientists requesting that their names be removed from reports that claimed BPA was safe and final report statements about BPA being safe being made BEFORE studies even started!
The government is unlikely to start controlling the use of BPA. The United States has a long tradition of keeping harmful substances — lead, DDT, tobacco, PCBs — on the market for decades after scientists find adverse effects.
This is why consumers need to educate themselves about BPA and let their money do the talking. We can vote against BPA ourselves by not buying products that have it and supporting companies that don’t use it. Here are some of my BPA articles with product links:
BPA Free Sippy Cups – Foogo, Klean Kanteen, Sigg, Avent Naturally, and Born Free
BPA Free Sippy Cups Part Two– Boon Fluid, The Safe Sippy, Nuby, ThinkBaby, and Funtainer
Glass Baby Bottles– Evenflo, Medela, Playtex, Born Free
BPA Free Baby Bottles Part Two– Glass bottles with protective sleeves (Siliskin and Wee-Go), and polycarbonate plastic baby bottles, Green to Grow, Nuby, Dr. Brown, Evenflo, Adiri
BPA Free Teethers and Pacifiers– Sophie, Natursutten, Raz-Berry, Playtex, Gerber, Chan Pie Gnon, Nuby, Sassy, and more.
BPA Free Plates, Cips, Bowls, and Utensils– Boon, Camden Rose, Mini-Me, Emily Green, Dombo, Trebimbi, Sassy and more.
