Ottawa investigates chemical found in baby bottles- Daycare centres nervous about bisphenol-A

The federal government is looking into whether bisphenol-A, a common chemical in hard plastic containers such as baby bottles, is harmful to humans.
 
 The assessment is part of a new toxics program announced a year ago by Stephen Harper’s government. Health Canada hopes to have a ruling on the chemical within a year. But some daycare centres aren’t waiting. While children play in a centre at Toronto’s George Brown 

College, the people in charge worry about plastic items used for food and drinks. The centre plans to take its own action and get rid of plastic products as soon as possible.

 Manager Moira Bell said she is concerned by some of the scientific studies. “The problem is that this is a chemical that is released into the formula once the bottle is heated,” she said.

 As recently as August 2006, Health Canada said there was nothing to worry about. “We’ve examined a risk for the toxicity of bisphenol-A and it does not pose a risk for the consumer,” Paul Duchesne, a Health Canada media relations officer, said at the time. But the department is taking a new look at the scientific literature on the chemical, much of it contradictory or inconclusive. It is to finish a risk assessment in six months and produce a ruling in a year.

 Source: November 15, 2007. Article extracted from CBC News.