Health Highlights: April 19, 2008

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors ofHealthDay:

Canada Warns About Chemical Used in Baby Bottles

Canadian health officials announced plans Friday to limit the use of the controversial chemical bisphenol A, a move that could lead to a ban on baby bottles containing the chemical.

A draft report from Health Canada found the chemical to be potentially dangerous to infants and the environment,CTVreported.

The widely used chemical is also found in hard plastic water bottles, dental sealants, DVDs, CDs and hundreds of other common items. Canadian Health Minister Tony Clement said the levels of bisphenol A (BPA) that most adults are exposed to is not harmful.

Health Canada's action could be the first step toward Canada banning the chemical altogether, theAssociated Pressreported.

Earlier this week, the U.S. National Toxicology Program said there was "some concern" about BPA from experiments on rats that linked the chemical to changes in behavior and the brain, early puberty and possibly precancerous changes in the prostate and breast. While animal studies only provide "limited evidence" of risk, the draft report said a possible effect on humans "cannot be dismissed," theAPsaid.

More than 6 million pounds of BPA are produced in the United States each year, theAPsaid.

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World's Oldest Person Is Turning 115

Her name is Edna Parker, she lives in a nursing home in Shelbyville, Ind., and she's the world's oldest person. And on Sunday, she'll celebrate another birthday -- her 115th.

"We don't know why she's lived so long," Don Parker, her 59-year-old grandson, told theAssociated Press. "But she's never been a worrier and she's always been a thin person, so maybe that has something to do with it."