Thanks to your calls, emails, testimony and meetings with lawmakers, children's health will be better protected in Minnesota. On Friday, May 8 Governor Pawlenty signed the BPA Free Baby bill into law, requiring companies to phase out BPA from baby bottles and sippy cups by January 1, 2010.

The Governor also signed the Toxic Free Kids Act which requires the Minnesota Department of Health to prioritize consumer product chemicals based on their toxicity. This is a first step in creating a system to identify and replace toxins.

Minnesota is the first state in the nation to remove BPA from children's products. Other states are expected to follow as bills in Connecticut and other states progress through their legislatures.

Why BPA is Harmful
BPA is a synthetic estrogen found in polycarbonate plastic products and is a hormone disrupting chemical. Health effects can include early onset puberty, childhood obesity and diabetes. Children are exposed to BPA when the chemical leaches out of polycarbonate plastic products - identified by the number 7 and the letters PC. Close to 200 scientific studies have shown BPA causes harmful health effects at low levels.