California’s ban on BPA might affect the whole country

Last week, the California State Assembly passed a bill banning BPA from food and drink containers intended for children 3 and younger. The bill was passed by a slim margin (42 – 31 according to saferstates.com) and now will move into the Senate and finally onto the desk of Governor Schwarzenegger.

There are already BPA bans in six states including Vermont, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maryland and Connecticut, but with a law now pending in New York, and with almost a third of the country living in NY and California, bans in these two states might be the tipping point that causes the industry to create a new plastics solution.

The ban on BPA is extremely expensive for the chemical industry, and after spending 5 million in California in legal fees, (according to the San Fransisco Chronicle) industry leaders may decide the more economical path is simply to come up with a new plastic solution that does not contain BPA.

It is great news to know that while federal organizations like the FDA, the EPA and Congress are waffling on the BPA issue, states are taking it into their own hands, and potentially changing the industry for the whole country.