As studies continue to link bisphenol-A (BPA) with all sorts of health problems, states and cities are banning the chemical from baby bottles and sippy cups and Congress is considering a ban in all food containers. This worries industry groups, who last week held a private meeting to devise strategy to protect the use of BPA. Someone sent the notes to the Washington Post.
chemicals
By 5.26.09
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Find the hidden ingredients lurking in your personal-care products. Think the “Ingredients” section of a product’s label tells you all you need to know? Not so fast. ShopSmart points out that certain chemicals that are considered byproducts of other ingredients may not show up on the label. These include possible carcinogens, such as formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane. Yum. [ShopSmart]
Consumerist And Consumer Reports Will Crap All Over Your Holiday Weekend
By 5.22.09
It’s Memorial Day weekend, the weather is looking nice, and people are leaving work early to hit the pool, fire up the grill, play golf, or enjoy our national pastime. We’re doing none of those things, so we thought we’d ruin it for everyone else.
By 5.20.09 — Updated: 11.1.12
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Is Your Leather Couch Making You Sick? The Chinese Poison Train rides again, this time in the form of chemically treated leather couches that are inflicting burns and rashes on people who sit on them. [Consumer Reports Safety]
Minnesota Becomes First State To Ban BPA
By 5.8.09
Minnesota has enacted the “Toxic Free Kids Act,” which will ban bisphenol-A (BPA) in sippy cups and baby bottles. Minnesota joins Suffolk County, New York, which banned BPA earlier this year. Other states and counties, as well as the federal government, are considering bans on the potentially dangerous chemical, which has been linked to all sorts of adverse health effects. The Minnesota ban goes into effect in 2011. (Photo: tiffanywashko)
Trade Group Asks Obamas To Please Use Pesticides In Their Vegetable Garden
By 4.17.09
We don’t blame the Mid America CropLife Association (MACA)— a pesticide an agribusiness trade group—for promoting its interests, but we still think it’s funny that they’ve asked the first family to not grow organic vegetables in the White House vegetable garden. MACA’s Executive Director Bonnie McCarvel sent a long letter to Michelle Obama reminding her of the importance of technology in modern farming, then publicized the letter via an email where she noted, “While a garden is a great idea, the thought of it being organic made Janet Braun, CropLife Ambassador Coordinator and I shudder.”
By 4.10.09
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Oh, no! Are baby carrots treated with chlorine? Yes, but it’s not a big deal. [CR Health]
Baby Products: Now With Formaldehyde!
By 3.14.09
More than half of the baby products recently tested by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics were found to contain trace levels of formaldehyde and dioxane. Though the study didn’t accuse Johnson & Johnson of dumping barrels of the potential carcinogens directly into their baby products, the dangerous chemicals can form during the manufacturing process as other ingredients break down. The full list of 48 tested baby shampoos, lotions, soaps, and wipes—including some well-known products you probably have on your shelf—inside.
By 3.9.09
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Worried about toxic makeup? The Environmental Working Group has a database with safety ratings on more than 25,000 personal-care products. [Skin Deep]
No More BPA Baby Bottles In US?
By 3.6.09
Philips Avent, the nation’s largest seller of baby bottles, announced today that it will voluntarily stop selling bottles containing the controversial chemical bisphenol A (BPA). Attorneys general from Connecticut and New Jersey had written a letter to several bottle makers asking them to stop, and the Washington Post says the six largest baby bottle manufacturers in the country have voluntarily complied.
Suffolk County Bans Bisphenol-A In Baby Bottles
By 3.4.09
Suffolk County, New York enacted the nation’s first Bisphenol-A (BPA) ban on Tuesday when it voted to ban BPA from bottles for children 3 and under.
Chicago Considering A Partial Ban On Bisphenol-A Products
By 2.12.09
Chicago might become the first place in the United States to partially ban the sale of products that contain Bisphenol-A (BPA), the chemical that some studies have shown may have harmful effects on humans. They’re proposing to forbid the sale of any BPA product intended for children. Canada banned the chemical last year, but the FDA has so far come down on the side of manufacturers.
Woman Sues McDonald's For Serving Cleaning Liquid Instead Of Iced Tea
By 2.5.09
A Baltimore woman is suing McDonald’s for negligence, after she says they served her a cup of kitchen equipment sanitizer instead of iced tea.
Study Finds Bisphenol-A Can Enter Your Body Through Non-Food Sources
By 1.28.09
A new study from the University of Rochester shows that bisphenol-A (BPA), a potentially toxic chemical found in many plastics, can enter the body via non-food sources and lingers in the body longer than previously thought.
Class Action Lawsuit: Victoria's Secret Bras Causing Skin Rashes?
By 11.12.08
Discover Magazine has an interesting blog post about some consumers who were complaining that Victoria’s Secret bras were giving them painful rashes. When their lawyers bought similar bras and had them tested — they were found to contain formaldehyde.
BPA Levels Higher In Those With Heart Disease Or Diabetes
By 9.16.08
those with the largest amount of BPA in their urine had nearly three times the risk of heart disease and more than twice the risk of diabetes as those who had the lowest levels.
Confirmed: BPA Will Harm Your Monkey
By 9.4.08
Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have linked [BPA] to problems with brain function and mood disorders in monkeys—the first time the chemical has been connected to health problems in primates.
FDA Declares Bisphenol A Safe
By 8.15.08
Bisphenol A, or BPA, is the chemical used in various plastic bottles and can linings that Canada recently banned, consumers in Arkansas, California, and Ohio have filed lawsuits over, and Playtex and Nalgene have stopped using. The fear is that it’s toxic—studies on animals in Canada have shown that it’s damaging, and some tests in the U.S. suggest it’s harmful to humans as well. Critics of the anti-BPA movement point out that the human studies rely on super high dosages that never occur in real life, and that making safety decisions based on the general public’s fears isn’t exactly scientific.
