FDA

Mothers take great care to provide the best for their children, choosing nutritious formula and food for their young. So why is a chemical that may hinder a child's development allowed in baby bottles and sippy cups?

That was the sentiment behind a 36-9 vote in the Washington state Senate today for a bill (SB 6248) to ban bisphenol A, or BPA, from food and drink containers for young children. Similar legislation passed the House earlier this week 95-1, but that bill (HB 1180) went further by also banning the chemical in bottles containing sports drinks such as Gatorade.

BPA is widely used in shatterproof plastic containers for food and drinks, as well as a plastic lining in cans for food and soda. Studies have shown that when these containers become hot, whether through microwaving or by pouring hot liquid into them, BPA can seep into the food or drink. This is also occurs when the plastics get scratched over time.

Federal safety regulators have expressed concern about the harmful effects the chemical could have on fetuses and young children's brains, reproductive systems, pituitary glands, and behavior. The chemical has also been linked to a variety of cancers, diabetes, and obesity.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration "believes there are great causes for concern, especially among the youngest,” said Rep.

All that research pointing to big problems with BPA for humans appears to have yet another, powerful study in its corner, this one a  study of Chinese workers showing that exposure causes erectile dysfunction and other sexual problems in men. It’s the first study to examine the impact of bisphenol on the reproductive system of human males. Previous studies have examined mice or rats.

The compound is found in thousand of consumer products – from your plastic water bottles to baby bottles to the lining of canned food to dental sealants -- and has been detected in the urine of 93 percent of the U.S. population. The Washington Post, reporting on the study published in the journal of Human Reproduction, said the study, funded by the federal government, found that the men handling BPA were four times as likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction and seven times as likely to have problems with ejaculation.