Ban on Use of Toxic Materials in Baby Products Founders

A controversial Assembly bill that would have banned two toxic compounds in plastic baby products died Thursday after supporters could not round up enough support from members of the Appropriations Committee.

The bill by Assemblywoman Wilma Chan (D-Alameda) would have banned the manufacture and sale of baby toys and feeding products that contain phthalates, which are used in the manufacture of vinyl, and bisphenol A, a component in the hard, clear polycarbonate plastic used in an array of consumer products, including baby bottles.

The committee voted down the bill even after an amendment removed the bisphenol A provisions, leaving only the ban on phthalates. Proponents said the deciding vote came from San Francisco Democrat Leland Yee, to the surprise of environmental activists and Chan, who had expected the bill to reach the Assembly floor next week.

Chan said Thursday that she plans to reintroduce the proposal next year.

The bill had sparked a scientific debate, and the plastics industry mounted an intense lobbying campaign against the ban, saying it would prevent California consumers from choosing popular products without definitive evidence that the chemicals pose a health threat.

There is evidence that phthalates and bisphenol A could be altering the hormones and harming the reproductive systems of babies, but the results are not considered conclusive, and some studies have been controversial. The compounds have been shown in laboratory studies to mimic estrogen or block testosterone and feminize animals.

Rachel Gibson of Environment California, the group most actively supporting the bill, said Chan and environmentalists thought they had the votes of the majority of the committee. They were surprised when Yee, speaker pro tempore, the No. 2 position in the Assembly, voted against it. The bill had been approved by the Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee but had to pass the Appropriations Committee to reach the full Assembly.

Yee, a child psychologist elected in 2002, has been known for sponsoring bills to protect children and had received 100% grades from the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters.

Yee’s spokesman said the assemblyman decided that decisions to ban chemicals should be left to health experts, not politicians, especially after scientists gave conflicting testimony at an Assembly hearing last week. Yee said he would support a new bill if it authorized state health officials to evaluate the risks and make the decision.

“He didn’t like the concept of just outlawing these products outright, given there was conflicting scientific data,” said press secretary Adam Keigwin. “He supported the concept and originally thought he would support the bill, but reading it further and seeing the mechanism that put it in place, he thought that wasn’t the right approach.”