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NCC lauds Canada for declaring BPA a toxic substance
and calls on Congress to help the USA follow suit

Washington, October 20, 2010 – The National Council of Churches today applauded Canada’s decision to declare Bisphenol A (BPA) to be a toxic substance, and called on the United States to follow suit. 

“The  United States can and should be a global leader to protect public health,” said Chloe Schwabe, NCC Eco-Justice program manager for environmental health.

“Protecting all children of God and the whole of Creation are moral imperatives. It is high time that our government acts with conscience to protect all of God’s children and Creation from the known and potential long term health effects of BPA," Schwabe said. 

Studies have found that BPA can interfere with infant and children’s development and may be a factor leading to breast and prostate cancer.  

Canada, Denmark, France, and seven U.S. states have taken steps to ban BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups, and in some cases infant formula cans.  

State ecumenical and interfaith organizations participated in efforts to persuade states to take this step. Canada is the first country to declare BPA toxic.  

The European Union indicated this week that they will likely take action to address BPA as well. The NCC’s Eco-Justice program has called upon the U.S. Congress to give the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to quickly regulate BPA and other chemicals in other food and beverage packaging to ensure their safety. 

BPA is widely used in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins such as water bottles, baby bottles, sippy cups, infant formula containers, and food cans.

 The major manufacturers of baby bottles and sippy cups all offer BPA-free alternatives. Nestlé, Gerber and Similac are also packaging most of their infant formula in BPA free materials. Eden Foods offers a BPA-free can for all of their products except tomatoes. Muir Glen announced this summer that they will be canning their next harvest of tomatoes in BPA-free cans. 

Researchers have known for decades that BPA is estrogenic. Research in the last two decades has found that it may contribute to early puberty in girls, prostate and breast cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and behavioral changes in children.  

Scientists have also found BPA in the sand and air. Studies have found that it can interfere with lobster reproduction in the Northeastern United States.  

This year the FDA raised concerns regarding the effects of BPA on fetuses, infants and young children but said it lacked the authority to act to immediately ban the chemical from food and beverage containers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, BPA is found in over 93 percent of the population.                        


Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical cooperation among Christians in the United States. The NCC's 36 member faith groups -- from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation.

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 646-853-4212 (cell), pjenks@ncccusa.org

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