No more suspect plastic BPA in EU baby bottles

No more bisphenol A in plastic baby bottles in the EU next year: the European Union is banning it. Its Health and Consumer authority cited uncertainty from new studies which showed the substance might have an effect on development, immune response and promoting tumours. Organisations in various countries have been lobbying for awareness for years.

Lisette van Vliet, with the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) said: “There are a lot of other places where bisphenol A is used, and a lot of other places where it is coming into contact with food. For instance, this is a bowl obviously for infant and child use. It’s got a marker on the bottom, inside a triangle with the number 7, which means other plastics, so it is not a specific plastic, it is a catch-all group of plastics. It is possible that it is a polycarbonate and that bisphenol A is in there. So if you put some fatty substance in here, and you put this in the microwave, and you heated it up, it is possible for bisphenol A to leach out of this and into the food.”

The plastics industry has objected to the ban, taking effect next March, saying research into the alleged dangers of BPA has been inconclusive. The Brussels-based eco-alliance HEAL, however, has long held that BPA shows negative effects in brain tissue even “at surprisingly low doses.”

BPA is used in food cans, milk containers, water pipes and dental work.

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