If you are an Oregon resident, this is your chance to get bisphenol A (BPA) out of children’s bodies in our state. The Oregon Environmental Council (OEC) has a lot of great information on their website about the dangers of BPA. They have a summary and a fact sheet about BPA. From the summary page you can click through to send a letter to Oregon Legislature members in support of SB 1032. Here is a summary of SB 1032.
Environmental Working Group (EWG) is taking on a similar task on the national level. They are working to pass the Kid Safe Chemicals Act. The legislation is designed to replace the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act and will limit children’s exposure to hazardous chemicals, including BPA. Here is their fact sheet on BPA. You can add your name to a petition in support of the Kid Safe Chemicals Act.
You will also have the opportunity to make a donation to support this campaign. EWG gives you the opportunity to make a $5 donation. Most environmental groups don’t offer the option to make a small donation. I am really happy that EWG is willing to accept a smaller donation. I have been able to make donations to multiple campaigns and know that my money is going to support the issues of specific interest to me.
This article goes into detail about a recent study looking for chemicals in newborn babies. Regrettably, too many chemicals, including BPA, were found in umbilical cord blood. Washington recently passed the BPA Baby Bottle Ban with help from the Washington Toxics Coalition (WTC). We can pass SB 1032 with the support of Oregon residents and everyone can help to pass the Kid Safe Chemicals Act. If you need more info about BPA, I wrote more about it here. I also recommended a couple books on the subject. Babies should not be born prepolluted. We can make sure that this trend stops.
UPDATE: SB 1032 was defeated on February 16, 2010. OEC summarizes the bad news here. I am very disappointed that SB 1032 was rejected. Parents will have to continue with vigilance when attempting to select BPA free products for their children. There is still hope with the Kid Safe Chemicals Act on the national level and, hopefully, the BPA issue will be brought in front of the Oregon lawmakers again soon.
Wendy Daray 