The federal government will ban the import and sale of polycarbonate baby bottles containing bisphenol-A.

Canada is the first country in the world to limit exposure to the controversial chemical.

Health Minister Tony Clement said the ban would come into force barring new information from a 60-day public comment period.

The ban will affect only baby bottles and not other food containers made with bisphenol-A (BPA).
Clement also said Canadians can continue to use hard plastic reusable water bottles and plastic tableware and that Health Canada "will be providing some advice on how to use them properly."

BPA is a synthetic chemical compound found in some hard, clear plastics and resins such as food and drink containers, compact discs, electronics and the liners in many metal cans.

Clement said Health Canada's assessment is that the chemical does not pose a health concern for most Canadians.

In anticipation of the announcement from Health Canada, in recent weeks many retailers pulled hard plastic and baby bottles from their shelves.

As of Thursday, Wal-Mart Canada and Home Depot Inc. added their names to the list that already included Canadian Tire Corp., Hudson’s Bay, and the Forzani Group that includes Sport Chek, Coast Mountain Sports and Athletes World.

Cheri Doman, owner of the Sojourn Outdoor Store in Barrie, said she has removed the products to avoid misunderstandings for the consumer.

“We’re taking them off the shelf temporarily,” said Doman, “The reports are still inconclusive, but it’s easier to take them off than to leave them.”

Doman had beefed up her stainless steel products last summer, and has seen a steady trend away from the polycarbonate resin (brand name Lexan) bottles. The Lexan bottles contain the BPA and sometimes are identified with the number seven inside a triangle on the bottom with the letters PC nearby.

She saw the biggest surge last November when Mountain Equipment co-op began removing Lexan bottles, like those Nalgene manufactures, from its shelves over concerns of health effects from the BPA.

“We haven’t sold a lot of Lexan lately,” she said.

Doman also indicated that it puts retailers in a difficult position, since the reports are so inconclusive.

BPA is thought to mimic the hormone estrogen and recent independent studies link the chemical to breast cancer, obesity, infertility and insulin-resistance in rodents. To date, the results for humans have been inconclusive, though that may change when Health Canada releases its report.

Initially scheduled to be released in May, the announcement was moved up due to public interest. Once the draft assessment is released, a 60-day period for public comment occurs, and then Ottawa has a year to issue a report outlining how it will control the exposure.

While water bottles and baby bottles are taking the brunt of the attention, Doman says that the plastic is used extensively in hospitals and in medical labs.

“Plastic is everywhere,” she said, “We’re surrounded by it.”

Other items which contain polycarbonate include water cooler bottles, liners for food and beverage containers, and seals for cavity-prone teeth.

The key is that not all plastics contain BPA. Plastic bottles that have remained on the shelves contain a different grade of plastic and are not considered a health risk.

But if you are considering buying stainless steel as a replacement, Doman adds a caution.

“The consumer needs to understand there are many grades of stainless steel as well. The less expensive bottles, the less the grade, so there’s more chance of being able to taste the bottle.”

Lexan plastic is a hard plastic used in sunglasses, CDs, hard plastic toys, and keyboards among others, though it’s only when it has been used in bottles and food containers that it becomes a health concern. The bonds that bind the polycarbonate together dissolve over time and until now it was thought that it was only in very old Lexan bottles or during heating that leaching occurred.

Yvonne Harkness, owner of two Water Depot stores in Barrie, isn’t worried.

“We’ve been hearing about this for a number of years,” she said, adding that she’s been receiving information from her supplier about the safeness of the bottles for some time and says the information hasn’t changed. “It’s only in the news now because the media are making more of it.”

In a document authored by the American Plastics Council that she received on April 16, it re-affirmed that “BPA does not pose a risk to your health.”

It also stated that, “while there is some potential for a minute amount of BPA to migrate from these materials, the amount that migrates is at least several hundred times below the amount considered safe to consume by U.S. and European government bodies.”