green514.com

— green514 welcomes Veronik to the front page —

What are we going to do with our potentially toxic and completely non recyclable baby bottles?  Turn them into musical instruments, little planters, pencil holders? Fortunately for our son’s health, this topic came to light early enough for us to find a better solution.

I called consumer support today at Avent to know what they recommended should be done with my Avent Naturally polycarbonate bottles and (never used) cup trainer, as they cannot be recycled. There position, is that Health Canada has not definitely decided on their policy, so my baby can continue ingesting estrogen mimickers affecting his brain’s development.  The concentration of this chemical in a one time use versus prolonged use and bio-accumulation in the system is still being tested.

As to where I stand; if there is such a debate amongst scientists over the chemical why not take it off the shelves until there is consensus upon the results of the research. It is not as if there are no other alternatives.

This turns our attention to Health Canada, did you know that:

The Hazardous Products Act (HPA) and the Food and Drugs Act (FDA) which are used to regulate such products, have laws that are inadequate in addressing the human health and environmental risks. For example, the HPA bans lead in children’s jewelry, but allows this proven toxic in a wide range of other products. The HPA and FDA also does not deal with substances that pose a threat to humans via their persistence in our environment, such as perfluorinated compounds and other substances that are persistent and bio-accumulative. -Green Party of Canada

The Gazette article on April 15th mentioned that:

The chemical bisphenol-A, used to manufacture a common form of plastic, would fall under the Canadian Environment Protection Act, which doesn’t force governments to ban or restrict its use in consumer products. Even if it’s listed as “toxic” under CEPA, bisphenol-A will still be legal to use in baby bottles, liners of food and drink cans, and water bottles.

If a product is considered toxic, what makes it legal to still use in our food chain? Lobbyists?

A firmer stance is needed in regards to our product regulation laws.

As in Europe, CEPA should require that the onus be on industry to show that the products they produce are safe, contrary to the current onus on government to demonstrate harm from these products. Which is a key feature of the emerging REACH system for regulating chemicals in the European Union, expected to become law in early 2007. Europe is the largest chemicals market in the world. There is every reason for Canada to follow their lead. - Green Party of Canada

UPDATE: Seems like the prime minister reads green514. Read today’s press release.

Tags:   Avent · Baby Bottles · Bisphenol · Green Party · Health Canada · Montreal · PhillipsNo Comments