Washington State Senate Concurs With House BPA Ban 38-9
Governor Is Expected To Sign Bill
Olympia, WA — The Washington State Senate today overwhelmingly concurred with the House on the Safe Baby Bottle Act (SSB 6248), a bill to eliminate the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) from baby bottles, sippy cups, and other children’s dishware, as well as from sports bottles. The vote was 38-9. Governor Gregoire is expected to sign the bill.
"We're very pleased with today's Senate action. Getting BPA out of children's dishware and sports bottles is commonsense given the mountain of evidence showing BPA is harmful to our health. Parents and other consumers want safer products free of BPA. Hopefully we'll see other products like food cans go BPA-free soon," said Ivy Sager-Rosenthal, campaign director with the Washington Toxics Coalition.
“This bill is a great win for Washington’s children,” said Karen Bowman, environmental health specialist with the Washington State Nurses Association. “Children have the right to reach their full potential and the Safe Baby Bottle Act is a great step in the right direction. Nurses across the State are celebrating!”
With passage of the bill, Washington becomes only the second state to ban BPA in sports bottles, and the fifth state to ban the chemical in baby bottles and other children’s food and beverage containers. Maryland and Wisconsin passed bans earlier this year and Minnesota and Connecticut passed bans in 2009. Several other states, including California, Vermont, New York, and Illinois have similar bans pending.
Background Information
Bisphenol A affects the health of every Washington State citizen. Scientific evidence
is piling up demonstrating the endocrine disruptor Bisphenol A (BPA) is harmful
to children’s health and can cause harm later in life. BPA is linked in hundreds
of independent studies to a wide range of devastating diseases such as tumor proliferation,
abnormal development of breast tissue, and a host of metabolic disorders including
cardiac disease, type 2 diabetes and liver abnormalities, which are increasing to
epidemic proportions in the United States.
A recent study quantifying health care utilization and the economic costs of metabolic
syndrome in Washington State, conducted by Boudreau and her associates at Group
Health Center for Health Studies, found that study participants with metabolic syndrome
had a higher rate of heath care utilization and costs compared to non-metabolic
disorder subjects. “Average annual total costs between subjects with metabolic syndrome
versus no metabolic syndrome differed by a magnitude of 1.6 overall ($5,732 vs.
$3,581), and a magnitude of 1.3 when stratified by diabetes (diabetes, $7,896 vs.
$6,038; no diabetes, $4,476 vs. $3,422). Overall, total costs increased by an average
of 24% per additional risk factor (P < 0.001)”.
The economic impact of environmental exposures is staggering. We have an opportunity
to prevent these costs and the pain and suffering associated with these diseases
by eliminating exposure of Bisphenol A to the most vulnerable population, children
under three. Anything we can do to reduce the burden on our troubled health care
system is critical. The Safe Baby Bottle Act would ban BPA in baby bottles, sippy
cups, and other children's food containers. It’s an important first step in removing
this toxic chemical from our bodies.
For more information, visit The Toxic-Free Legacy Coalition’s website on BPA -
www.toxicfreelegacy.org/campaigns/eliminating-bisphenol-a/eliminating-bisphenol-a.
WSNA is a member of The Toxic-Free Legacy Coalition, a broad-based alliance of organizations
across Washington state that rejects the trespass of persistent toxic chemicals
in the environment and our bodies.
