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July 7th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda FRIDAY, July 6 (HealthDay News) — When Hacah Boros gave birth to
her daughter three years ago, giving her infant formula was “completely
out of the question,” said the 35-year-old nurse from central
Connecticut.
She was worried about bisphenol A (BPA), a common chemical in plastics
and also a “hormone disruptor” associated with changes in child growth and
development.
“I was aware that BPA was a problem and fortunately able to
breast-feed,” Boros said. Since then, Connecticut became the first state
to ban BPA from infant-formula and baby-food containers, a law that went
into effect in October 2011.
Boros said she might not completely avoid formula for her second child,
due in August.
“If I need to resort to it, it’s an actual option and I don’t feel like
I’m poisoning my child this time,” said Boros, who is a volunteer for the
Coalition for a Safe Healthy Connecticut, which helped support the
law.
BPA often is added to the material that lines food cans to increase
shelf life and prevent rusting, and it can get transferred to the food
inside the container.
Many of the major makers of infant formula, including Similac, Gerber
and Enfamil, have voluntarily stopped using BPA in the past several years
in response to consumer preference and state legislation in Connecticut
and Vermont.
Even so, formula makers including Abbott (Enfamil) do not label their
products as BPA-free.
“In the absence of legislation and mandated labeling, it is hard for
consumers to determine which products are actually BPA-free,” said Dr.
Maida Galvez, an associate professor of pediatrics and preventive medicine
at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing a petition
that was submitted in March to reverse its approval of BPA in formula
containers.
Ideally, Galvez said, there would be a system in which an independent
party certifies the product to make sure it is BPA-free.
But if the FDA prohibits BPA, it could lead to problems if the
packaging that replaces BPA-containing material is not stable or leads to
health concerns, said Robert Rankin, associate director of the
International Formula Council, a trade association that represents makers
and marketers of infant formulas.
“If BPA is not there as a backup plan, you have a potential gap in the
supply chain,” he said.
Whereas there are decades of safety data for BPA, there may be less
known about the packaging material that replaces BPA, Rankin said.
Although the FDA is continuing to review the safety of BPA, a March 30
agency statement said there currently is not sufficient scientific
evidence that the low levels found in foods are unsafe. The American
Medical Association supports the development of BPA alternatives in
infant-formula containers.
“We just try to focus on prevention,” said Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana,
assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington in
Seattle. “There really are no safe limits. Lower doses can lead to health
effects.”
Exposure to BPA during pregnancy and in newborn babies has been
associated with hyperactivity and aggressive behavior in children at 2
years of age.
The major baby-bottle manufacturers announced in January 2009 that they
had eliminated the use of BPA, making the widespread move before makers of
infant formulas. Children’s toys generally are not made out of plastics
that contain BPA.
Parents can take many steps to further reduce or avoid BPA exposure
when feeding their baby:
- Call the maker of your baby formula, Galvez said. Ask whether they use
BPA materials if you can’t find a BPA-free label, and whether they test
the product for BPA before shipping. - If it is not clear that the formula is BPA-free, look for it in glass
or plastic instead of metal cans. The types of plastic used to package
formula do not typically contain BPA. - If a powder formula is available that offers good nutritional benefits
for your infant, choose powder over liquid. Powders typically have lower
levels of BPA. - Avoid introducing BPA in powder formula during preparation by mixing
the powder in a BPA-free bottle or container. - Look for the recycling code on plastic containers and avoid code 7,
which means the plastic can contain BPA. - Dissolve powder in warm but not boiling water. BPA leaches from
containers more at high temperatures. - Support the Safe Chemicals Act, which would require safety data for
chemicals before they enter the market or that are already on the market.
“Supporting that kind of legislation is what will truly reduce exposure to
the entire population,” Sathyanarayana said.
Studies also have detected BPA in breast milk, and there are some
indications that the level can be higher than in infant formula.
Even if this is the case, “the benefits of breast milk likely far
outweigh the concerns of BPA,” Galvez said.
Another tip to reduce BPA exposure is to wash your hands well after
handling store receipts because they contain high levels of BPA,
Sathyanarayana said.
More information
The U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services has more about BPA.
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