State Senate votes to ban chemical BPA in baby bottles

The Washington state Senate Friday voted 36-9 to approve a ban on the chemical bisphenol A in baby bottles, sippy cups and other food containers designed for use by children 3 or younger.

The House passed a similar measure earlier this week, but it included the reusable sports bottles popular with hikers. The two houses will have to work out the differences between the two bills, but it now seems all but certain that Washington will become the third state to ban bisphenol A (known as BPA) in some products.

Connecticut and Minnesota have outlawed some BPA products, and several other states are expected to debate similar measures soon.

Bisphenol A is found in many hard plastics, most canned foods, and everything from printed receipts to some plastic piping. Exposure has been linked to brain, behavioral and prostate problems in children and fetuses, but most findings are based on studies involving animals.

Some studies have associated BPA with a host of health problems in adults, but the National Institutes of Health has expressed most concern with children, whose brains and bodies are still developing.

The Food and Drug Administration earlier this month for the first time said it was expressing "some concern" about BPA's effects and would spend $30 million doing more research.

In Washington, the bills passed by both houses would take effect in the summer of 2011, and would lead to fines for retailers and manufacturers who violate the ban.

The nonprofit Washington Toxics Coalition has pushed for the ban to include sports bottles, but lobbyists with the Washington Retailers Association argued that made measure unnecessarily broad.

Craig Welch: 206-464-2093 or cwelch@seattletimes.com