Health authorities in Argentina have banned the manufacture, import and sale of baby bottles containing bisphenol A (BPA). The move, effective immediately, is in line with the “most demanding” worldwide restrictions on the substance used to make polycarbonate and epoxy resins, said Matias De Nicola, director of Argentina’s national food, drug and technology institute Anmat (www.anmat.gov.ar). Manufacturers of baby bottles were given 30 days to substitute BPA-free products. According to De Nicola, many companies already have begun replacing PC with PP.

News reports quote Enrique Luque, a professor at the National University of Litoral and principal food safety investigator at the national health institute Conicet (www.conicet.gov.ar), as saying that Argentina has had evidence that BPA is harmful to infants since 2005, but chose to wait on a ban until other countries had taken action. In its announcement, the health authority pointed to legislation restricting the chemical in Europe and Canada, as well as Brazil. In September 2011 the Brazilian national health authority Anvisa (www.anvisa.gov.br/eng/index.htm) banned infant feeding bottles containing BPA, with effect from 18 December 2011.

Luque noted that the problem of bisphenol A is not resolved with the ban on baby bottles, as the substance is also present in epoxy can linings and the ink used in cash register receipts as well as in sealants and dental products. He advised pregnant women to avoid contact with these products while at the same time urging that Argentina pass legislation requiring all manufacturers to declare whether their products are BPA-free.