CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA 
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Children’s feeding bottles, food containers found with harmful chemicals: CEJ
The Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) today said that feeding bottles and food containers intended for feeding children and babies in the country have been found with bisphenol A (BPA), which is a harmful chemical.
A (BPA), are used as chemical building blocks in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins and is used in reusable food and beverage containers, re-usable water bottles, the linings of food cans, medical and sports equipment, eyeglass lenses, thermal paper receipts, and plastic water pipes.
While issuing a report, they said the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) and CEJ called for immediate national and global restrictions on the use of the chemical BPA in food and beverage containers.
Executive Director of CEJ Dilena Pathiragoda told the Daily Mirror that the report was released after studies in eight countries and showed that the chemical was present in 76 out of the 98 feeding bottles and food containers analyzed.
However, she said two-thirds of the sampled bottles labeled as being BPA-free were found to contain the chemical. BPA exposure is linked to several adverse health effects, including cancer, fertility disorders and sexual dysfunction in both men and women, as well as diabetes.
BPA is legally identified as toxic in many countries and is categorized as an endocrine disruptor in the European Union (EU).
She said the IPEN participating organization said that "we found that the products were mislabeled as BPA-free.
Therefore, the producers trick concerned parents into buying products that can harm their babies. We need strict rules for labeling toxic chemicals in consumer products as well as a strong surveillance system to monitor their implementation, "Ms. Pathiragoda said.
According to the report a number of countries, including EU member states, Malaysia, China, and Indonesia, have restricted the use of BPA in baby bottles.
However, IPEN found BPA present, and able to leach into liquid content, in 78% of the 98 products tested. One of the mislabeled samples violated Malaysia’s food regulations, as the use and import of polycarbonate baby bottles with BPA is prohibited in that country, she said, according to the report. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)
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