The 'No More BPA' campaign, backed by the NCT, Unison, the Women's Environmental Network, the Cancer Prevention and Education Society and CHEM Trust, wants the Government to take action to end the use of the controversial chemical in baby bottles.
Scientists from Stirling, London, Plymouth, Reading and Ulster universities have written to health secretary Andy Burnham to ask that BPA be banned from products marketed for babies and children.
They say studies carried out in the United States and Canada over the past decade have found that very young children who are exposed to BPA have an increased risk of breast cancer and other chronic conditions, as they are less able to eliminate the chemical from their body than adults.
The Canadian Government is expected to introduce a ban on the advertising, sale and importing of baby bottles containing BPA by the end of the year. US baby bottle manufacturers voluntarily removed BPA products from sale last March and the government watchdog the Food and Drug Administration has suggested it will review the use of the chemical.
The Food Standards Agency, however, has said that UK exposure levels to the chemical are well below what it considers harmful.
Jay Francis, a campaigner from the National Childbirth Trust, said, 'It's very worrying that we could be poisoning our children in this way. NCT would like to see legislative change to protect babies and young children. Public opinion is anti-BPA, so it shouldn't take too much for the Government to act.
'There are many legitimate solutions and lots of manufacturers are already making BPA-free bottles. Alternatively, parents and practitioners could give children glass bottles, tippy cups or normal cups over the age of six months.'
Lisa Parkhill, managing director of Mam UK, which has removed BPA from all its products including soothers and teethers, said, 'We fully support Breast Cancer UK in their campaign against the use of Bisphenol A in baby bottles.'
