We need your help to protect children from the toxic, estrogen-mimicking chemical bisphenol-a (BPA) in baby bottles and toddler’s sippy cups!

In March 2009, an Illinois House Committee passed House Bill 2485, but lobbyists representing this chemical’s out-of-state manufacturers pushed back hard. It’s a stark case high-powered lobbyists versus children’s health. Please help your legislator keep their priorities straight!

BPA-containing baby bottles expose children to BPA at levels that caused health problems in animal studies, and scientists have linked BPA to rising rates of learning disabilities, hormone disruption and cancer. Safer alternatives are readily available.

Please take a moment right now to remind your state representative that you’re watching how they vote on this critical child health issue. Urge your legislator to stop toxic baby bottles by passing H.B. 2485. Click here to take action

The Problem: Bisphenol-A a Toxic, Synthetic Sex Hormone

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a synthetic sex hormone that mimics estrogen, but which is also used to make hard polycarbonate plastic. BPA is found in the epoxy lining of most food cans, and in many other consumer products. Most baby bottles on the market are made with Bisphenol-A. Children’s daily exposure to BPA is up to twenty times higher than adults, in part because such a large portion of their food comes from containers made with BPA.

In October 2008, Canada’s national health agency classified Bisphenol-A as toxic to humans and the environment, and Canada is now implementing a nationwide ban on Bisphenol-A in baby bottles. The U.S. National Toxicology Program found last year that nearly all Americans, especially children, are exposed to Bisphenol-A at levels that caused health problems in animal studies, and scientists have linked BPA to rising rates of learning disabilities, hormone disruption and cancer.

“The body of evidence that documents harmful effects of BPA at low doses—doses very similar to what is found in humans—is very compelling when examined as a whole, says Dr. Gail Prins, a physiology professor who has studied Bisphenol-A's effects on the prostate, including its links to prostate cancer. "To ignore this scientific data any longer will be seen as negligence.”

In November 2007, Environment Illinois released the results of a national biomonitoring project, which tested the blood and urine of 35 Americans for three types of toxic chemicals, and found Bisphenol-A in everyone it tested. In February 2008, Environment Illinois collaborated with public health and environmental health groups from across the country to release “Baby’s Toxic Bottle,” a report that found that baby bottles leached significant amounts of Bisphenol-A when subjected to tests designed to simulate repeated washings.

Federal Chemical Policies Have Failed to Protect Children’s Health

The chemical companies that sell BPA continue insist that it is safe, citing a flawed, Bush-era Food and Drug Administration risk assessment. The FDA's own science advisory panel, as well as newspapers across the country—including the Houston Chronicle, Newsday, The New York Times, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and the Chicago Tribune—have excoriated the FDA for its flawed findings of this chemical's safety and for failing to regulate it.

Since the release of the Health Canada and NTP reports, many retailers and manufacturers, including Toys R Us, WalMart and Playtex, recently pledged to eliminate Bisphenol-A from baby bottles and switch to safer alternatives. Bills to ban BPA have been introduced in a dozen state Legislatures, the U.S. Congress and the City of Chicago.

Solution: Stop toxic baby bottles by passing H.B. 2485

Illinois legislators should pass H.B. 2485, sponsored by State Rep. Elaine Nekritz and State Sen. Dan Kotowski, to prohibit the sale of BPA-containing baby bottles, toddlers' sippy cups, and other reusable food containers for children under age 3. The bill is critical for reducing children's exposure to a known-toxic, synthetic sex hormone during their most vulnerable years; it's also the best way for our state policy-makers to prompt federal leadership on this issue, which has so far been absent.

House Bill 2485  bill is supported by a coalition of public health, environmental, faith-based, and consumer protection groups as well as by the Illinois EPA and the Illinois Attorney General.

Please urge your legislator to protect children’s health by passing H.B. 2485. Click here to take action.