Wal-Mart to make baby bottles bisphenol A -free

18 April 2008 18:24  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Retail giant Wal-Mart expects to stop offering baby bottles with bisphenol A (BPA) early next year while Nalgene Outdoor Products will phase out sports bottles with BPA amid growing consumer health concerns, the companies said on Friday.

Wal-Mart said that although the US Food and Drug Administration has so far classified BPA as safe to humans, it decided to expand on its decision to pull PC baby bottles from the shelves of its Canadian subsidiaries.

“We are working to expand our BPA-free offerings and expect the entire assortment of baby bottles to be BPA-free sometime early next year," Wal-Mart said in a statement. Wal-Mart could not be reached immediately for further comment.

A wave of consumer sentiment against BPA began earlier this year after some scientists expressed concern that high levels of the chemical could be linked to breast cancer and developmental defects in infants. When exposed to heat or harsh detergent, PC bottles can release small amounts of BPA, which then can be ingested by humans.

Nalgene said it will phase out production of its line of polycarbonate (PC) sports beverage containers that contain BPA during the next several months.

“Based on all available scientific evidence, we continue to believe that Nalgene products containing BPA are safe for their intended use,” said Steven Silverman, general manager of the New York-based unit of Thermo Fisher Scientific. “However, our customers indicated they preferred BPA-free alternatives and we acted in response to those concerns.”

The National Toxicology Program published a draft report on 14 April saying that while high doses of BPA clearly had adverse effects on human health, more study was needed on the effects of low dosages.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) said on Thursday that it believed BPA to be safe at normal ingestion levels and that concerns over its health effects were being overblown by the media. 

A US Congressional committee has indicated it may ask the FDA to revisit its evaluation of BPA’s safety.

For more information on BPA and PC, visit ICIS Chemical Intelligence

By: Ben Lefebvre
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