By Susan DeFord
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 2, 2008

Howard County is eliminating plastic baby bottles and other items containing a controversial chemical from a federally funded nutrition program operated through county offices, health officer Peter Beilenson said yesterday.

Beilenson said he was taking the action for 2,900 lower-income clients enrolled in the Women, Infants and Children program to limit their exposure to bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical used to make some lightweight plastics and epoxy resins. Widely used since the 1950s, BPA is deemed safe by federal regulatory agencies, but there have been numerous studies in recent years that question its effect on fetuses, infants and children.

"We're not waiting for the federal government," Beilenson said. "We encourage other health departments to do the same."

Howard officials said theirs is the first health department in Maryland to act against BPAs, and they are hoping that public awareness will force reductions in the chemical's use. "We certainly want to encourage parents that this is potentially a real public health problem," Beilenson said. "We need to push to offer suitable alternatives."

Beilenson said there is "mounting evidence" that BPA exposure may be linked to conditions including cancer, diabetes and hyperactivity, as well as early onset of puberty, because it mimics the effects of the hormone estrogen. Last month, Canada banned the chemical's use in baby bottles.

BPA can be found in reusable water bottles, sippy cups, food storage containers and the linings of food and beverage cans.

Howard officials are advising people to check the recycling numbers on plastics and avoid those with the numbers 3 and 7, because "all BPA products have 7 or 3 on them," Beilenson said. Because all cans of infant formula in the United States have BPA in the containers' epoxy resins, Beilenson said, the health department will promote breastfeeding as the safest choice.

WIC client Phillip Nguyen, joined by his wife, Kim, and two young daughters, newborn Vivian and toddler Natalie, at a news conference announcing the change, said he heard about the chemical a couple of years ago and has grown worried.

"We're really concerned about how our babies develop and any effects later on," said Nguyen, a Columbia resident.