STAFF CONTACT :
BILL
SUBJECT
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The Business Council opposes this legislation, which would ban the distribution and sale of child care products, used by children that contain the chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA).
BPA has been safely used to make shatter-resistant polycarbonate plastics and versatile epoxy resins for over 50-years. The stable properties of BPA have aided the safe development and use of shatter-resistant baby bottles and sippy cups, bicycle helmets, eyeglass lenses and neonatal incubators.
The anti-corrosive properties of BPA have yielded protective coatings in food and beverage cans and containers, which has greatly increased the shelf life of perishable food products. Most studies show that the potential migration of BPA into food is extremely low, generally less than 5 parts per billion under conditions typical for uses of polycarbonate products.
Food safety agencies from around the world have all found BPA to be safe to use including: The U.S. Food & Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the European Food Safety Authority, the European Union, Health Canada, the Japanese National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology and the Food Standards Australia New Zealand.
All have concluded that low level exposure to BPA pose no adverse risks to human reproductive and developmental health.
The consistent findings of world health organizations and governing bodies that bisphenol-A is safe as currently used makes additional legislation unwarranted at this time.
Finally, The Business Council is concerned with any legislation that calls for state specific product bans and restrictions. Chemical regulation in particular is better handled on a national level, rather than having different states with varying standards for chemical and product safety.
For these reasons, The Business council opposes adoption of S.3296-F.