While we applaud the city of Chicago and the State of Minnesota for recently voting to ban the sale of sippy cups and baby bottles that contain BPA. This is an action that the federal government should be undertaking relative to a wider range of products now much the same as Canada has already done.

While we applaud the city of Chicago and the State of Minnesota for recently voting to ban the sale of sippy cups and baby bottles that contain BPA. This is an action that the federal government should be undertaking relative to a wider range of products now much the same as Canada has already done.

According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) ?Bisphenol A? is a toxic plastics chemical that has inherent risks associated with the human consumption of the product.

Products categories that may contain bisphenol include but are not be limited to the following.

1. Common metal coatings liners of food cans.
2. Baby bottles the hard plastic ones.
3. Water coolers and bottles
4. Tableware and food storage containers
5. Medical devices
6. Consumer items such as sunglasses CDs and DVDs
7. Automobile parts
8. Sports equipment

The first question this author would ask himself is; if this compound is not good to consume, is it safe to rest against you face for extended periods such as in the use sun glasses? If it is included in sunglasses is it included in eye glasses? It appears as though we do not know what we do not know.

After reading the following, ask yourself if you would like this compound included in any of the products you consume or wear. According to Wikipedia Bisphenol A, commonly abbreviated as BPA, is an organic compound with two phenol functional groups. It is a difunctional building block of several important polymers and polymer additives. With an annual production of 2?3 million tonnes, it is an important monomer in the production of polycarbonate. Duh!

This compound has been suspected of being hazardous to humans since the 1930s, concerns about the use of bisphenol A in consumer products grabbed headlines in 2008 when several governments issued reports questioning its safety, and some retailers pulled products made from their shelves

This author highly recommends that when buying any of the products listed above that procurement professionals ask their suppliers the specific question; do these products or the containers for these products contain BPA? If so, do you have the same product for the same price in containers that do not contain BPA?

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Ron Southard