Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Reps. Lois Capps (D-CA) and Grace Meng (D-NY) are calling for a ban on Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used to harden plastics and commonly found in food packaging. “The dangers of BPA have been well demonstrated,” the three wrote in an opinion piece for Roll Call. “Exposure, even at minimal levels, has been linked to numerous health problems, including breast cancer, altered fetal development, infertility and behavioral changes.” “There is a lot of evidence associating daily exposure to a slew of events in humans from behavioral issues in children to metabolism to malformations in organs when they develop,” Maricel Maffini, a senior scientist with the Natural Resource Defense Council’s (NRDC) health team, told Food Safety News in January. “If the exposure occurs to a specific window of the susceptibility during development, the impact is greater.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned BPA from baby bottles, sippy cups and infant formula packaging in 2012, but Markey, Capps and Meng say that more needs to be done. “In order to fully protect children from exposure to BPA, we must also protect pregnant women and all of the foods they and young children may ingest,” they wrote. In June 2013, the three introduced the Ban Poisonous Additives Act, which would deem food to be adulterated if its container is made with BPA or can release BPA into food. The bill also requires FDA to examine the effects of BPA on the workers who may be disproportionately exposed to BPA during the manufacturing process. The BPA Act currently has 21 cosponsors and is supported by numerous public health and cancer advocacy organizations, along with organizations representing workers who handle BPA on a daily basis such as the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, the United Steelworkers and the United Automobile Workers. “Banning BPA from food and beverage containers is common sense, and everyone will be safer for it,” Markey, Capps and Meng wrote.