Mendolonium

Right now the California State Assembly is considering passage of a bill, SB 1713, which would ban the chemical Bisphenol A from many products in California including cans, formula containers, baby bottles and toys. As someone who suffers from a severe, incurable autoimmune disease (rheumatoid arthritis), potentially triggered by chemicals in our environment such as BPA, I am passionate about the passage of this legislation. Today I sent a letter to our state assembly member, Anthony Portantino urging him to vote YES on SB1713. Below is the text of the letter:

Dear Mr. Portantino,

Regarding SB1713…

Yesterday I received a mailer headlined “Don’t Let Sacramento Politicians Remove Products From Your Grocery Bag”. The mailer urged me to “tell you to vote No on SB1713″.

I was so troubled by the misinformation, outright lies, and scare tactics in the mailer that it had the opposite effect that it had intended. I am writing to ask you to vote YES on SB1713 and ban Bisphenol A (BPA) in California.

BPA was first developed in 1936 as a synthetic hormone. Today it is primarily used to make hard plastics (polycarbonates) such as baby bottles and to line food containers such as canned goods. Numerous studies have shown that BPA leaches from the containers into our food, exposing us to large cumulative levels of BPA throughout our lifetimes. Over 100 scientific studies have shown that BPA has adverse health effects including:

-Behavioral changes including hyperactivity, an increase in aggression, and increased susceptibility to drug addiction
-Diabetes and obesity
-Early puberty
-Down syndrome
-Reduced sperm count
-Breast and prostate cancers
-Impaired immune function
-Brain damage associated with impaired learning and memory

Canada recently (April 2008) imposed a similar ban on BPA to that being proposed by SB1713. The Canadian ban has not resulted in a dearth of affordable food and products. Instead, it has given consumers the ability to feed their families conveniently, affordably, and safely. With the passage of SB1713 California would become the first state in the nation to ban BPA in cans, formula containers, baby bottles and toys setting a precedent for the rest of the country.

I would be happy to speak with you or your office further about this issue and provide references for the studies that I mentioned above.

As a concerned mother and a scientist I urge to vote YES on SB1713. Thank you.

Please consider taking the time to write or call your state assembly member regarding this issue.  You can find out who your representative is at the California State Assembly homepage. To find out more about BPA and its adverse effects visit Environment California’s BPA page.  So very few people ever take the time to write or call about any issue that it only takes a couple of dozen people to make a difference.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 8:56 pm and is filed under Change of the Week, Rheumatoid Arthritis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.