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Kristin Schafer

Kristin Schafer

Seriously? Chemical industry pressure keeps BPA in baby bottles

On Capitol Hill today, the chemical industry squashed a bi-partisan effort to ban the controversial chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) from baby bottles and children's drinking cups. Really guys?

Protecting kids from toxic chemicals should be a no-brainer, right? Especially when the science is so strong, the scientists themselves are calling for action.

The American Chemistry Council should be ashamed of itself. They're the ones that strong-armed policymakers into opposing action on BPA. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who co-authored the BPA measure with Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY), had it right when she told a Greenwire reporter:

"I don't understand how a chemical group would oppose taking a chemical [out of products] which, at the very least, may impact the endocrine systems of infants, because they want to make money on it."

She went on to call the situation "very, very frustrating."

The American Chemistry Council is a national lobby group with dozens of member companies including agrochemical giants like Dow, Dupont, and Bayer. Today, they showed us yet again why it is so darn hard to put laws in place to protect the public – even kids – from toxic chemicals. If it threatens their bottom line too directly, they pull out all the stops, call in all their political favors and halt progress in its tracks.

It's right there on their website:

"Protecting our children's health and well-being is a fundamental value the chemical industry shares with society."

Sorry guys, your actions speak much louder than these empty words. Shame on you.

Kristin Schafer

Kristin Schafer

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