Maine’s Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) will meet tomorrow to consider taking action on a citizen-initiated petition to phase out use of the toxic chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) in children’s food packaging. The BEP meeting comes on the heels of Tuesday’s announcement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it would no longer allow BPA to be used in baby bottles or sippy cups and that it would initiate formal public comment on a proposal to end the use of BPA in infant formula packaging.

“FDA finally followed the lead of Maine and ten other states who have already replaced BPA in baby bottles. They’ve affirmed the importance of protecting kids from BPA while also demonstrating that they prefer to wait until states act and the marketplace shifts rather than take timely meaningful action to protect kids,” said Steve Taylor, of the Environmental Health Strategy Center, representing the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine. “This action by the FDA undermines the LePage administration’s excuse for inaction on BPA. The science is solid and even the FDA is acting now.”

In June a group of Maine moms delivered over 800 petitions to the BEP calling on the Board to use their authority under Maine law to replace BPA in baby and toddler food packaging with safer alternatives that are readily available and affordable.
Governor Paul LePage’s office cited a supposed lack of federal action as a reason for Maine to delay moving forward to protect children from BPA. Since the BEPs last review of the science on BPA at least 69 new peer reviewed scientific studies have been published that add to the overwhelming evidence of BPA’s toxicity.