Baby-bottle ban

Legislation proposing the banning of baby bottles and sippy cups containing a chemical linked to health problems has made it through both houses of California’s Legislature and is awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown’s approval, according to media sources.

Assembly Bill 1319—the Toxin-Free Infants and Toddlers Act—would prohibit the sale of baby bottles and sippy cups made of plastic containing the hormone-disrupting chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) starting in July 2013. The state Senate approved the measure, co-authored by Assemblywoman Betsy Butler (D-Marina del Rey) and Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), in late August. It reached Brown’s desk Sept. 6, after a final concurrence vote in the Assembly.

BPA has been linked to early puberty, childhood obesity, breast cancer, autism and other health problems. Opponents of AB 1319 maintain that laboratory tests involving BPA showed adverse effects at high doses that humans were unlikely to encounter.