And about time, too. Six manufacturers of baby bottles have announced they'll stop making bottles that contain the dangerous chemical bisphenol-A. This story actually came out last Friday, but after harping on BPA I thought I needed to follow up with this from the WaPo:

"The six largest manufacturers of baby bottles will stop selling bottles in the United States made with bisphenol A, a controversial chemical widely used in plastics but increasingly linked to a range of health effects.

The manufacturers declared their intentions after Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, joined by the attorneys general in Connecticut and New Jersey, wrote to the bottle makers and asked them to voluntarily stop using the chemical.

"The evidence seems too clear and emphatic and unequivocal to say we should simply permit this stuff to go into children on a massive scale," Blumenthal said yesterday. "And there's no reason for it, because there are substitutes available." "

So, to recap, what does BPA do to the human body?

"Over the past decade, more than 130 studies have linked BPA to breast cancer, obesity and other disorders. In September, the study of BPA in humans found adults with higher levels of bisphenol A had elevated rates of heart disease, diabetes and liver abnormalities. Last year, researchers at the Yale School of Medicine linked BPA to problems with brain function and mood disorders in monkeys. "

And what, until now, has the FDA done about it?

"The FDA has maintained that BPA is safe, relying largely on two studies that were funded by the chemical industry. In October, the agency was faulted by its own panel of independent science advisers, who said the FDA's position on BPA was scientifically flawed. As a result, the agency is revisiting its position on the chemical. "

And what have the manufacturers of BPA done?

"The American Chemistry Council, an industry group that represents companies that make BPA, yesterday repeated the FDA's position that BPA is safe at current levels in food bottles and containers."

So why have these bottle makers decided to stop using BPA?

"Consumer concern about the chemical has placed increasing pressure on manufacturers and retailers. Late last year, Babies R Us and other major retailers told suppliers they would no longer stock baby bottles made with BPA."

In other words, it is consumer pressure, together with the work of a handful of state attorneys general, that is forcing this change. It's nothing to do with the FDA, the agency entrusted to make sure that products are safe for US citizens to consume.

The bottle makers have responded to economic pressure and made a financial, not an ethical, decision to change their ways. And they have no plans to change their ways in markets that don't demand that they do:

""We made a business decision to move out of BPA," said Shannon Jenest of Philips Avent, which is number one in U.S. dollar sales of baby bottles.

Philips Avent stopped selling baby products with BPA on Dec. 31 in North America but continues to market them overseas, she said. "We felt like we had hit a tipping point with our consumers and with our retailers," Jenest said. "Babies R Us was banning it, Target was going to, CVS was going to, and so the distribution channels were lessening and lessening.""

So consumers get credit, honest researchers get credit, and these attorneys general get a big round of applause for their actions. The bottle makers get nothing.

And Richard Blumenthal and the attorneys general aren't finished yet:

"Blumenthal said he is gathering support from other attorneys general to demand that manufacturers take BPA out of infant formula cans and all food and beverage containers.

Richard Wiles, executive director of the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization, said the states are acting because the federal government has refused to do so. "Today's deal underscores the need for the Congress and the Obama administration to overhaul federal chemicals policy to protect infants and children from exposures to toxic chemicals," Wiles said. "When the public is forced to rely on state actions to achieve nationwide protections, we know the federal system is broken." "

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