Bill Text: CA SB797 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Product safety: bisphenol A.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-08-31 - Senate refuses to concur in Assembly amendments. (Ayes 19. Noes 18. Page 5117.) [SB797 Detail]

Download: California-2009-SB797-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 797	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senators Pavley and Liu
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Ma)

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act to add Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 108940) to Part
3 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to product
safety.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 797, as introduced, Pavley. Product safety: bisphenol A.
   Existing law, commencing January 1, 2009, prohibits the
manufacture, sale, or distribution in commerce of certain toys and
child care articles, as defined, if those products contain specified
types of phthalates in concentrations exceeding 1/10 of 1%.
   Existing law also requires manufacturers to use the least toxic
alternative when replacing phthalates in their products and would
prohibit manufacturers from replacing phthalates with certain
carcinogens and reproductive toxicants.
   The bill would enact the Toxin-Free Toddlers and Babies Act, which
would prohibit the manufacture, sale, or distribution in commerce of
any bottle, cup, or liquid, food, or beverage in a can or jar that
contains bisphenol A at a level above 0.1 parts per billion (ppb),
under specified conditions. The bill would also require manufacturers
to use the least toxic alternative when replacing bisphenol A in
containers in accordance with this bill.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Toxin-Free Toddlers and Babies Act.
  SEC. 2.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) The purpose of this act is to ensure that children are not
exposed to harmful toxins.
   (b) Bisphenol A (BPA) was created as a synthetic sex hormone.
Today it is widely used in certain kinds of plastics and epoxy
resins, including those commonly found in baby bottles and infant
formula cans.
   (c) Research by the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention has found that 93 percent of Americans have BPA in their
bodies, and children have higher levels than adults.
   (d) According to the National Institutes of Health diet is the
main way people are exposed to BPA, due to leaching of the chemical
from containers into food and drink.
   (e) The United States Food and Drug Administration has measured
BPA in canned infant formula at levels ranging from 0.1 parts per
billion (ppb) to 13.2 ppb.
   (f) BPA would not appear in bottles, cups, cans, or jars as a
trace contaminant. If BPA is found in any of these articles, it has
been placed there intentionally.
   (g) The United States Geological Service has measured BPA in
wastewater-dominated at levels up to 12 ppb. The agency's detection
limit for BPA was 0.09 ppb.
   (h) BPA is a known hormone disruptor. The National Institutes of
Health is concerned that BPA exposure in children may lead to
problems with brain development, behavior, early puberty, breast
cancer, and prostate cancer. New research has also suggested that BPA
may interfere with metabolism and lead to obesity, heart disease,
and diabetes in humans.
   (i) Out of concern for children's safety, Canada has banned the
use of BPA in baby bottles and is restricting its use in infant
formula cans.
   (j) Many companies have phased out BPA from their products or
removed BPA-containing products from their store shelves or both.
   (k) It is in the best interest of California to significantly
reduce infants' and toddlers' exposure to BPA as soon as possible,
and to ultimately eliminate all exposure.
   (l) California's Green Chemistry Initiative will not come to
fruition soon enough to protect the 550,000 babies born in California
each year from the unnecessary health risk posed by BPA.
  SEC. 3.  Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 108940) is added to
Part 3 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 12.  BISPHENOL A


   108940.  (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), no person shall
manufacture, sell, or distribute in commerce any bottle or cup that
contains bisphenol A, at a level above 0.1 parts per billion (ppb),
if the bottle or cup is designed or intended to be filled with any
liquid, food, or beverage intended primarily for consumption from
that bottle or cup by infants or children three years of age or
younger.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), no person or entity shall
manufacture, sell, or distribute in commerce any liquid, food, or
beverage in a can or jar containing bisphenol A, at a level above 0.1
ppb if the liquid, food, or beverage is intended primarily for
consumption by infants or children three years of age or younger.
   (c) Subdivisions (a) and (b) shall not apply to food and beverage
containers designed or intended primarily to contain liquid, food, or
beverages for consumption by the general population.
   108941.  (a) Manufacturers shall use the least toxic alternative
when replacing bisphenol A in containers in accordance with this
chapter.
   (b) Manufacturers shall not replace bisphenol A, pursuant to this
chapter, with carcinogens rated by the United States Environmental
Protection Agency as carcinogenic to humans, likely to be
carcinogenic to humans, or suggestive evidence of carcinogenic
potential, or known to the state to cause cancer as listed in the
Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Chapter 6.6
(commencing with Section 25249.5) of Division 20).
   (c) Manufacturers shall not replace bisphenol A, pursuant to this
chapter, with reproductive toxicants that cause birth defects,
reproductive harm, or developmental harm as identified by the United
States Environmental Protection Agency or listed in the Safe Drinking
Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Chapter 6.6 (commencing
with Section 25249.5) of Division 20).