Calif. Senate fails to protect babies from BPA

Minutes before midnight on August 31, California’s dream of becoming the eighth state to restrict BPA died on the floor of the state Senate. A late-night vote on a bill that would have banned BPA from all infant food containers fell two votes short of passage. This same bill had already passed the Senate last year, but faced a challenge during this year’s concurrence vote, as two senators who had been strong supporters of the bill were ill and not able to make it back to Sacramento for the final vote.

The Breast Cancer Fund is deeply disappointed by this loss. In the seven states that have voted to restrict BPA, both Republicans and Democrats have joined together to protect children. So why did California not step forward to protect children from this toxic chemical? Could it have to do with the intensive and expensive lobbying campaign by the chemical and pharmaceutical industries? It’s a sad day in California when big money trumps the health of babies.

Luckily, children’s health does not depend on California alone. In addition to the seven states that have already acted to restrict BPA, now Congress is poised to take action, and innovative companies are voluntarily removing BPA from their products.

Read the Breast Cancer Fund’s statement on the loss in California, and why this loss won’t stop the momentum to reduce our exposure to this toxic chemical linked to breast cancer.