This week in safety: Banding together against the BPA ban

Reacting to the wave of states, cities and municipalities that are moving to ban bisphenol A (BPA), some food packaging industry leaders got together recently to plan their legislative and public relations response, according to the Washington Post. One idea was to find a  'pregnant young mother who would be willing to speak around the country about the benefits of BPA,' the newspaper reported.

It's hard to imagine a more cynical tactic. BPA can be found in polycarbonate plastics and is commonly used for baby bottles and sport bottles, as well as in the lining of most canned foods and some beverages. Studies suggest that BPA can mimic estrogen and may be linked to a host of health problems (read more on our Health blog). Consumers Union has repeatedly called for BPA to be banned from food and beverage containers, and for the government to take immediate action to protect infants and children from BPA exposure.

Our sister site, the Consumerist, tracked down the minutes of the meeting on Effect Measure.

More safety news
China admits child products unsafe
Bangkok Post
Nearly half of the clothing and a third of the furniture made for children in China's top manufacturing province is unsafe, with many products containing harmful chemicals, China's state media said on Thursday. Read more ...

Child safety seat use improves for infants but not older children
South Florida Sun Sentinel
A new report issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found the number of motorists securing youngsters under 1 year of age and under 20 pounds in rear-facing car seats had "increased significantly" but things got worse as young passengers got older, especially if they were small for their age. Read more ...

Experts warn of choking hazards in home
The Arizona Republic
Toddlers need as little as seven inches of a loose cable, a dangling mouse cord behind the computer or a jump rope hanging from a chair to create a noose without knowing. In the wake of last week's accidental death of 4-year-old Exodus Tyson, officials from the Phoenix police and fire departments encouraged parents to patrol their homes to remove the rarely-noticed hazards that easily lead to tragedy. Read more ...

Editorial: The drywall plot thickens
The Palm Beach Post
Nancy Nord never should have been running the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It took the Chinese drywall controversy finally to force her out last week, which was good news for the country and especially for Florida. Read more ...

Cut through the misinformation: The real 'Top 10 risks to kids'
Opposing Views
These days, parents are inundated with information on how to ‚Äúkeep kids safe‚Äù.  While it is important that parents be aware of potential household dangers from certain chemicals, there are several real and more serious risks present in our homes that have the potential to injure children. Read more ...

Recall bonds could be costly to CPSC, GAO suggests
Product Safety Letter
Enforcing a requirement that companies have the financial ability to recall or destroy unsafe products could put a strain on CPSC’s already stretched resources, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Also, costs might outweigh benefits given the relatively low number of companies that historically have had financial difficulties related to recalls. Read more ...

Radioactive cheese grater case shows lack of oversight
Scripps News Service
Who is in charge of protecting Americans from products made from radioactively tainted metal? The answer: No one. Case in point: The discovery late last summer of a radioactive EKCO cheese grater at a Flint, Mich., scrap plant. The Chinese-made grater was laced with the isotope Cobalt-60, and was giving off the equivalent to a chest X-ray every 36 hours. Read more ...

Safety news from the CR blogs

• Babies & Kids: Car seats for preemies and low birth-weight babies
• Health: To protect your kids' ears, tone down the volume

Don't miss these recalls

• 9,500 Warm Biscuit children's lounge wear garments (flammability hazard)
• 2,300 National and Sanyo hand-held hair dryers (electrocution hazard)
  
• 1,800 Backyard Play Systems playset gliders (fall hazard)
  
• 250 2005 Novara Trionfo bicycles (fork failure)

Comments

[eric]

If Lisa (see video) is so worried, there is an easy solution - use glass bottles. That's what we did!