Over the past couple of years, there has been much controversy about the little-understood chemical, Bisphenol A (BPA).<\/p>\n
The compound is the source of much debate, and this is in part due to the fact that scientists simply cannot agree if it is harmful or not.\u00a0 Numerous studies have been conducted over the past few decades but with varying results.\u00a0 This led many lawmakers and companies to err on the side of caution and attempt to limit the public\u2019s exposure to the chemical, particularly among children.<\/p>\n
Bisphenol A is a chemical used to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins.\u00a0 Polycarbonate is used to make common household items like baby bottles and water bottles.\u00a0 Epoxy resin is used to coat the inside of cans for canned foods.<\/p>\n
Infants and small children are estimated to have the highest level of exposure to BPA due to its prevalence in baby bottles and canned formula.\u00a0 They are also especially vulnerable because they are less able to eliminate foreign chemicals from their bodies.\u00a0 Because of this the majority efforts to limit BPA exposure have been directed at children\u2019s products like baby bottles and canned formula.<\/p>\n
Manufacturers began using BPA in plastics in the 1940s, but it did not draw controversy until several decades later.\u00a0 In 1982, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) did a study to determine the possible harmful effects of BPA.\u00a0 Scientists tested large doses of BPA on mice and found several negative side effects.\u00a0 However, they did not test the effects of consuming relatively low doses of BPA.\u00a0 As a result, the NTP found that ingesting low doses of BPA were not harmful, and the EPA set daily intake standards for BPA.<\/p>\n
In the coming years, other studies began to investigate the potential harms of low doses of BPA.\u00a0 Although scientists have not come to a consensus, the studies showing harmful affects of BPA have received much media attention.\u00a0 The California State Legislature proposed a ban of BPA in children\u2019s products in September 2008, but it failed to pass.\u00a0 In 2009, twenty different U.S. states introduced legislation to try to limit children\u2019s exposure to BPA.\u00a0 The FDA and the NTP have both now declared that they have \u201csome concern\u201d about the effects that BPA has on people.\u00a0 However, no federal regulation has been implemented thus far.<\/p>\n
European scientists and lawmakers have been just as split on the issue as Americans, but in January 2011, the European Union banned polycarbonate baby bottles that contained BPA.\u00a0 The ban included the manufacturing of baby bottles containing BPA as well as the sales and marketing of such products.<\/p>\n
Canada has been the most aggressive country in limiting the public\u2019s exposure to BPA.\u00a0 The Canadian government banned BPA in baby bottles and canned formula back in 2008, and the final phase out of the chemical was complete in March 2010.<\/p>\n
Due to heightened media attention and controversy, many corporations and retailers have voluntarily stopped making or selling products with BPA.\u00a0 Fortunately, LA Container is one of those companies.\u00a0 All of our polypropylene and polyethylene containers are BPA free and can be purchased through our online container store<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Over the past couple of years, there has been much controversy about the little-understood chemical, Bisphenol A (BPA). The compound is the source of much debate, and this is in part due to the fact that scientists simply cannot agree if it is harmful or not.\u00a0 Numerous studies have been conducted over the past few […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[41,5,3],"tags":[24,23,12,82,74,63,81,78,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-containers-and-packaging","7":"category-articles","8":"category-pr-news","9":"tag-bisphenol-a","10":"tag-bpa-free","11":"tag-containers","12":"tag-fda","13":"tag-hinged-lid","14":"tag-plastic","15":"tag-polycarbonate","16":"tag-polypropylene","17":"tag-safety","18":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jennifer K.","author_link":"https:\/\/lacontainer.com\/blog\/author\/jennifer-k\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lacontainer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lacontainer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lacontainer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lacontainer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lacontainer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lacontainer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1290,"href":"https:\/\/lacontainer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions\/1290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lacontainer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lacontainer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lacontainer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}