Wal-Mart to Pull Bottles Made With Chemical BPA

Wal-Mart will stop selling baby bottles made with the controversial chemical bisphenol A in its U.S. stores early next year, a spokesman said yesterday.

The world's largest retailer had announced Wednesday that it was immediately halting sales of baby bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers, food containers and water bottles made with BPA in its Canadian stores amid speculation that the country's health department would soon declare the chemical unsafe.

The moves follow Monday's release of a draft report from the U.S. National Toxicology Program that expressed concern that BPA, which is used to make plastic, could cause behavioral changes in infants and children and trigger the early onset of puberty in females. The report also said more study should be done.

"Major retailers can be a force in effecting positive change," said Mike Schade of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, an environmental advocacy group, which has lobbied against the use of BPA. "Parents shouldn't have to roll the dice with their children's health at the checkout aisle."

Wal-Mart has sold BPA-free baby bottles for several years alongside bottles with the chemical. But yesterday was the first time the retailer indicated it would convert its entire U.S. stock.

Read the full Washington Post story here.