FDA Bans BPA in Baby Bottles

Baby bottles and sippy cups can no longer contain the controversial chemical bisphenol-A, or BPA, the federal government announced today. The US chemical industry's chief association, the American Chemistry Council, had asked the Food and Drug Administration to phase out rules allowing BPA in those products in October, after determining that all manufacturers of bottles and sippy cups had already abandoned the chemical over safety concerns.

The chemical industry's request may help curb years of negative publicity from consumer groups and head off tougher laws that would ban BPA from other types of packaging. Some researchers say ingesting the ubiquitous chemical can interfere with development of the reproductive and nervous systems in babies and young children, pointing to studies showing such effects in animals. The FDA has repeatedly rejected those findings. Legislation introduced by some members of Congress would ban BPA nationwide in all canned food, water bottles and food containers. (More bisphenol A stories.)