SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- Bowing to a deceptive, no-holds-barred campaign by the chemical industry, the California State Assembly has failed to approve a bill that would have made the state the first in the nation to remove the toxic endocrine disruptor BPA from baby bottles and children's drinking cups.
By a 35-30 vote on Friday, the last day of the two-year legislative session, Assembly members rejected Senate Bill 1713 by Sen. Carole Migden of San Francisco, which was sponsored by Environmental Working Group (EWG). Fifteen members of the Assembly were either absent or deliberately did not vote.
"California parents should be outraged at any politician in Sacramento who chose chemical industry profits over the health of Californians," said EWG President Ken Cook. "We're going to do everything we can to let their constituents know who stood up to protect infants and toddlers and who did the business of the chemical lobby."
The American Chemistry Council and other chemical lobby groups waged a campaign against SB 1713 that included deceptive direct mail, print and online ads, and phone calls claiming that the measure would affect all canned foods, whose containers are lined with a resin made from BPA. The industry also deployed an army of lobbyists, who bombarded legislators with claims that restrictions on BPA would increase the cost of food for low-income families and even deplete the shelves of community food banks.
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