Ban on BPA milk bottles

The Star, 15 March 2011

PUTRAJAYA: Polycarbonate infant milk bottles containing the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) will be outlawed from March 1 next year.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the Cabinet had decided to ban such milk bottles due to BPA’s risk to infant hormone systems.

“The enforcement will be made in stages and the industry is given one year to comply with the decision by making changes to their machines and buying new raw materials,” he told a press conference yesterday.

Liow urged parents and guardians of infants and children to make the switch now to bottles marked “BPA-free” which were widely available in the local market.

He said the decision for the ban was made as there was no scientific evidence which proved that BPA bottles were safe for use by high-risk groups namely infants and children.

“This action was taken in case BPA could definitely affect the hormone and other body function systems,” he said.

Enforcement against retailers selling milk bottles containing BPA will start from March 1 next year.

Liow said the move was in line with the World Health Organisation’s recommendations, adding that the European Union (EU) had made a similar announcement earlier this month to make the ban effective in June for EU-member countries.

Spot the difference: Model Nisa Kasnoon showing a polypropylene feeding bottle (left) and a polycarbonate one that contains BPA at the Health Ministry in Putrajaya yesterday.

Other countries that have banned the chemical in milk bottles include Germany, France, Denmark, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the state of New York in the United States.

BPA is used in polycarbonate to make baby milk bottles because it made the plastic translucent and stiffer while those without BPA had a less clear and dirtier look.