Senate votes ban on BPA in kids' containers

The Washington state Senate Friday voted 36-9 to approve a ban on the chemical bisphenol A in baby bottles, sippy cups and other food containers if they are to be used by children 3 or younger.

The House passed a similar measure earlier this week, but it extended the ban to the reusable-plastic sports bottles popular with hikers. The two houses will have to work out the differences between the two bills, but it now seems all but certain that Washington will become the third state to ban bisphenol A, known as BPA, in some products.

Connecticut and Minnesota have outlawed some BPA products, and several other states are expected to debate similar measures soon.

Bisphenol A is found in many hard plastics, most all canned foods and everything from printed receipts to some plastic piping.

Exposure has been linked to brain, behavioral and prostate problems in children and fetuses, but most findings are based on studies involving animals.

Some studies have associated BPA with a host of health problems in adults, but the National Institutes of Health has expressed most concern with children, whose brains and bodies are still developing.

The Food and Drug Administration earlier this month for the first time said it was expressing "some concern" about BPA's effects and would spend $30 million doing more research.

In Washington, the bills passed by both houses would take effect in the summer of 2011 and would lead to fines for retailers and manufacturers who violated the ban.

During floor debate, Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, who heads the Health and Long-Term Care Committee, said this was just the beginning for actions on BPA.

"This is not a huge step," she said. "It is a first step. It's a statement."

Meanwhile Sen. Cheryl Pflug, R-Maple Valley, the ranking minority member of the same committee, said the measure was premature because the government had not really taken a look at the safety of the containers that would likely be used instead.

"There is no study, no study, zero studies — not any studies — about the effects of the chemicals in the alternative products we are now telling the public to go buy," she said.

Many companies have in recent years begun selling baby products advertised as BPA-free.

The nonprofit Washington Toxics Coalition had pushed for the Washington ban to include sports bottles, but lobbyists with the Washington Retail Association argued that made the measure unnecessarily broad.

Craig Welch: 206-464-2093 or cwelch@seattletimes.com