Making Our Milk Safe : Index

New York State Bans Toxic Baby Bottles

(Albany) Advocates applauded Governor Paterson today for signing into law the Bisphenol A-Free Children and Babies Act to end the sale of bisphenol A-based baby bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers and straws as of December 1st of this year. Both houses of the New York State Legislature unanimously passed at the end of June. Today was the last day for the Governor to sign the measure.

New York is now the seventh state - and by far the largest in both population and economy - to pass phase out of BPA in young children's products, joining Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. It will be one of the first state laws to go into effect, however. In addition, Maine has declared bisphenol A (BPA) as a "priority chemical" and will institute regulations to phase out its use in children's food and beverage containers and infant formula containers. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is moving forward with similar regulations to cover children's beverage containers. California has BPA legislation pending.

Tasty salmon, whatever its origins, has PCBs

Health Canada believes these fish are generally low in environmental contaminants like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). But, sadly, all fish and seafood have PCBs and related toxic chemicals to some extent. Farmed salmon are even more concentrated in toxins because they’re fed fish meal and fish oils that contain PCBs. According to the Dietitians of Canada, the amount of contaminants in fish meal depends on its continent of origin: fish meal from Europe contains more PCBs than meal from South America. In Canada, farm-raised salmon are fed the latter.

Concern for the peril of personal-care products

The wrinkles are here, and more are surely coming. Time for potion intervention. But trying to figure out not only which cosmetics work, but also which ones are good for me and the planet is so complicated that it's just producing more wrinkles.