Augusta - As part of the "Kids Safe Product Act," Maine identified 49 chemicals of high concern that could be found in food packaging sold in Maine. One of those chemicals was Bisphenol-A, or BPA.

Earlier this month, the Board of Environmental Protection recommended the phase out of BPA from packaging on infant food sold in Maine, but toddler food packaging was not part of that ruling due to a loophole in the law. "That was particularly frustrating, knowing that what differentiates a child that can be protected and my kids is literally the matter of a few months," said Jessica Graham, a Waterville mother of two toddlers. Graham has been working on a grassroots campaign to get rid of BPA for the past two years.

Senate Majority Leader Seth Goodall, a Richmond Democrat, has announced legislation that would close that loophole and get BPA out of the packaging for food consumed by toddlers and pregnant women. "The problem is the board doesn't have the authority to regulate BPA in canned food," Goodall said Tuesday. "And that's a real issue because young children and young babies, infants, they have food other than food that's directly marketed at them. So we need to make sure we get bpa out of all canned foods."

Goodall's bill would also begin the process of identifying what products sold in Maine contain previously identified chemicals of high concern so they can be effectively phased out, a move that many of the moms who have been working so hard on this say is long overdue. "To not see movement on anything other than BPA is a little discouraging, as much as we're happy about all the movement on BPA," Graham said. "There are other really dangerous chemicals that nothing is being done on right now."

Public hearings on the bill are expected to be held within the next month.

Print this Story