FDA, ban BPA!
Plastic Pollution Coalition joins Breast Cancer Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Working Group, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and many other organizations in a call on FDA to ban BPA. The move is supported by Martha Stewart, Jeff Bridges, Bonnie Raitt, Rosanna Arquette, Hillary Swank, Fran Drescher, Ed Begley, Jr., Mario Batali, Jackson Browne and many other notable individuals (see list at the end).
BPA is an endocrine disruptor and can be found in water bottles, some baby bottles, in epoxy resins used to coat the inside food and drinks cans, dental fillings and sealants, and receipts. BPA has been linked to a variety of diseases including autism, attention disorder ADHD, erectile dysfunction, heart disease in women, depression, learning disorders, asthma, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and infertility. People exposed to BPA are reported to have a higher risk of developing prostate and breast cancers, and BPA has been found to decrease the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Babies and young children are especially sensitive to the harmful effects of BPA. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study found BPA in 95% of adult human urine samples and 93% of samples in children.
Over three years ago, the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a petition with the FDA asking them to ban the use of bisphenol A (BPA) as an additive. After many months of waiting, a decision date has been declared. March 31, 2012 is the last possible day that the FDA has to make a permanent decision about the usage of BPA in consumer products. The FDA has expressed concerned, scientists have expressed concern, organizations have expressed concerned, and relentless public mandate has created a serious shift in its usage within products. Not surprisingly, plastic industry lobbyists, and those benefit financially from the continued use of BPA, doubt its harm. In 2011, Maine Governer Paul LePage went so far as to claim that there “hasn’t been any science” that identified BPA as a problem, but then made the claim that there was, in fact, some talk of BPA acting as an estrogen mimic that he’d heard about, but in a worst case scenario “women may have little beards” as a result of exposure. People like this are aggressively lobbying to keep this additive alive and they will be pushing hard on the FDA.
Luckily, smart and caring people are prevailing. Later that same year, Jeanne Rizzo, registered nurse, CEO and President of Breast Cancer Fund was quoted in Forbes saying, “If BPA were being studied as a pharmaceutical drug, it’s highly doubtful, given its interaction with animals, that it would make it into a clinical trial with humans. It wouldn’t make it into a clinical trial, and yet we’re already in a clinical trial and we’re all the subjects…”
A growing group of notable supports (see list below) have co-sponsored/co-signed a petition urging the FDA to ban BPA in the US. Together we must urge the FDA to ban BPA from food and drink containers and packages as it has been shown to be harmful in numerous studies. We are asking that the FDA seriously consider their own concern they have over the dangerous effects of BPA and do what is right for the health and safety of the people of the United States.
FDA must ban BPA.
Sign our petition here: http://ow.ly/9KVah
And join these wonderful supporters:
Addison Fischer, Founder, Planet Heritage Foundation; Founder, Verisign
Amber Sakai, fashion designer
Amy Smart, actress
Ann K. Luskey, Ocean conservationist
Barbara Benish, UN Safe Planet
Beth Nielsen Chapman, musician
Bill McKibben, author and founder 350.org
Bobbi Chase Wilding, Clean & Healthy New York
Bonnie Raitt, musician
Chandra Jessee, philanthropist
Congressman Stephen Cohen (D-Tenn.)
Daniella Russo, Executive Director, Plastic Pollution Coalition
Dennis Grimaldi, Broadway playwright
Dianna Cohen, Artist & Creative Advocacy Director, Plastic Pollution Coalition
Dick Button, Olympic gold medalist & ABC sports commentator
Dr. Marty Goldstein, DVM
Ed Begley Jr., actor and environmentalist
Fran Drescher, actress/producer
Hilary Swank, actress
Jackson Browne, musician
Jeanne Rizzo, RN; President and CEO, Breast Cancer Fund
Jeff Bridges, actor
Jeff Franklin, writer, producer, director
Joan Fabry, architect
Joanna Moore, owner, AXE restaurant
Jodie Evans, co-founder CODEPINK
Keb’Mo, musician
Mario Batali, chef
Mark Christy, President, Hobie
Martha Stewart, founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
Michelle Martin Coyne, artist and photographer
P. Dee Boersma, Ph.D, Department of Biology, University of Washington
Physicians for Social Responsibility – Los Angeles (PSR-LA)
Rosanna Arquette, actor
Roz Savage, ocean rower and environmental campaigner
Sergio Arau, film director, musician, visual artist
Shari Sant Plummer, President, Code Blue Foundation
Sue Rockefeller, filmmaker
Sylvia Earle, Ph.D., oceanographer and explorer
The Ditty Bops, musicians
Wallace J Nichols Ph.D., marine biologist
Wavy Gravy, clown poet, SEVA
Werner Boote, filmmaker/director of “Plastic Planet”
Yareli Arizmendi, actor, writer
(list current as of 8:20 pm PST, March 20, 2012)
Please sign the petition http://ow.ly/9KVah
Some chemicals are just not supposed to be in our bodies. If the U.S can be a world leader and ban BPA, hopefully other countries will follow suit.
[...] You can avoid bpa by using stainless steel and glass instead of plastic and avoiding food in metal cans which may be lined with BPA, but it’s in so many things that totally avoiding it is hard. Also if something is showing up as causing so many problems should anyone be eating it? No! That is why we must tell the FDA to ban BPA. “Over three years ago, the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a petition with the FDA asking them to ban the use of bisphenol A (BPA) as an additive. After many months of waiting, a decision date has been declared. March 31, 2012 is the last possible day that the FDA has to make a permanent decision about the usage of BPA in consumer products. The FDA has expressed concerned, scientists have expressed concern, organizations have expressed concerned, and relentless public mandate has created a serious shift in its usage within products. Not surprisingly, plastic industry lobbyists, and those benefit financially from the continued use of BPA, doubt its harm. In 2011, Maine Governer Paul LePage went so far as to claim that there “hasn’t been any science” that identified BPA as a problem, but then made the claim that there was, in fact, some talk of BPA acting as an estrogen mimic that he’d heard about, but in a worst case scenario “women may have little beards” as a result of exposure. People like this are aggressively lobbying to keep this additive alive and they will be pushing hard on the FDA.”- Plastic Pollution Coalition [...]
[...] Done? OK, back in action, team! It’s time to Ban BPA! [...]