Canadian retailers such as Mountain Equipment Co-op and Lululemon to smaller specialty stores such as Fab Baby Gear and Princess and the Pea are pulling plastic baby bottles that contain “bisphenol A” from their shelves. “BPA”, as it is more commonly known, is a synthetic chemical compound, mimicks the hormone estrogen and leaches into the baby bottles (as well as other containers that are made of the chemical).
Recent lack of consumer demand owing from the health concerns has spurred these
retailers to pull the baby bottles and bigger chains such as the Bay and Zellers
to start offering alternative options for customers. While consumers have
already made their decision, Health Canada is now reviewing the safety of the
chemical and is expected to make a statement within weeks on BPA’s health risks.
An Environmental Defence fact sheet states: "Bisphenol A is a hormone disruptor. Studies have linked low-dose BPA exposure with such effects as: permanent changes to genital tract; increase prostate weight; decline in testosterone; breast cells predisposed to cancer; prostate cells more sensitive to hormones and cancer; and hyperactivity."
The plastics industry, meanwhile, is dismissing potential risks, saying that
only trace amounts of BPA actually leach out of bottles. According to them,
these trace amounts are not nearly enough to harm human health. Despite these
assurances, people remain skeptical and baby bottles, much more than other
products containing BPA, continue to slump in sales.
The plastic industry proponents claim that the leach effects in baby bottles are
in such trace amounts as to be insignificant; probably quite true. But what of
these effects combined with the leach effects of the hundreds of other bottles
and containers containing BPA? Add to this the legal limits of known (and
unknown) carcinogens in numerous everyday products and agents.
We should not forget that one small snowflake may appear
insignificant, but many of those snowflakes brought together can make a snowball
or a blanket enough to cover a mountain and one more snowflake can represent an
avalanche. Let us not forget that it takes just one seed to start a forest.
