268631 States take action! State laws and regulations addressing Bisphenol A (BPA)

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Jennifer Noll Folliard, RD, MPH , Center for Health Policy and Legislative Analysis, The MayaTech Corporation, Silver Spring, MD
Shereitte Stokes IV, PhD, MPH, MIAD , Center for Health Policy and Legislative Analysis, The MayaTech Corporation, Silver Spring, MD
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a high production volume chemical widely used in manufacturing polycarbonate plastics, hard plastics, and epoxy resins used in nearly every industry. Releases of BPA in the environment exceed 1 million pounds per year . BPA exposure in animal testing has shown endocrine disruption effects at low doses - levels once thought to be safe . Both the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency are currently working to determine the safety of BPA, in hopes of regulating its ubiquitous use 1 . While the United States government is in the process of determining how to regulate this compound, the states have begun taking action. This presentation will examine individual state regulation of BPA, specifically a qualitative analysis of current state laws and regulations addressing BPA regulation. Preliminary results indicate that 10 states have passed laws addressing BPA regulation, with all laws passed between the years 2009 and 2012. Understanding how states have regulated this compound is important for policy makers in other states, public health officials, and the general public concerned with this issue.

Learning Areas:
Environmental health sciences
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the presentation the audience will: 1. Analyze federal proposed legislation regulating bisphenol A; 2. Explain different state-level legislative approaches to regulating bisphenol A; 3. Discuss innovative legislative approaches at regulation of chemical compounds similar to bisphenol A

Keywords: Environmental Health, Public Health Policy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the manager of the MayaTech Corporation's Center for Health Policy and Legislative Analysis, and have been working in the field for over 6 years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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