Parents have enough on their plate without having to worry about exposing their children to dangerous chemicals in everyday items that should be safe. Yet cans of chicken soup or a sippy cup filled with milk could very well be contaminated.

Bisphenol A (BPA), a man-made chemical, is used in thousands of consumer products to harden plastic, line tin cans, make CDs, and coat receipts.  It is a known endocrine disruptor, which means it interferes with how hormones work in the body by blocking their normal function.   Even though BPA has been linked to harmful health effects, it is still allowed to be used in American products.

This chemical is so widespread that it has been detected in the bodies of 93 percent of Americans.  Infants and children, because of their smaller size and stage of development, are particularly at risk from the harmful health effects of BPA.  But since BPA is not listed on food or drink labels, we currently have no way of knowing our daily exposure, or which products to avoid. Even foods that claim to be chemical free and organic can still contain traces of BPA.

Some organizations claim that BPA has not been conclusively proven to cause harm, so they feel it’s OK to keep it in our products.  Other commentators may even tell you that the caution against BPA is just fear-mongering.  They’ll tell you not to worry - plastic bottles couldn’t possibly hurt you.

Moms and grandmothers like me know better.  They once told us it was OK to smoke cigarettes while you’re pregnant, too.

An overwhelming amount of evidence links BPA to serious health problems.  Over 200 studies link BPA exposure to breast and prostate cancer, cardiac disease, diabetes, and early puberty.  Just this week, a study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility showed that BPA adversely affects sperm in men.  On the other side of the debate there are studies showing BPA is not harmful at all.  You won’t be surprised to know that those studies are funded by the industries that make or support BPA.

There is no need to expose our children to this potentially toxic chemical when there are safe, BPA-free alternatives available for baby bottles, sippy cups, baby food, and infant formula packaging.

Some states and countries have realized this and have taken action. Canada, which has a ban on BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups, recently became the first country to declare BPA to be a toxic substance.  Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin – and the City of Chicago have all enacted laws restricting the use of BPA.

Some companies wisely have begun to phase out BPA or are searching for alternatives.  Sunoco, a company that makes BPA, has said it would refuse to sell the chemical without a guarantee that it would not be used in children’s products.  Eden Valley Organics now sells beans in BPA-free cans, and Wal-Mart and Toys “R” Us will no longer sell baby bottles containing the compound.  This is commendable.

We may not know everything yet.  But what we do know should spur us to urgent action.  We should not leave this to chance.  Parents are careful to monitor the early development years of their kids because we know this is a critical time in life.  It makes sense to ban a potentially toxic substance from baby products rather than take a “wait-and-see” approach.

The United States should follow Canada’s lead and declare BPA to be a toxic substance and ban it from children’s products where it leaches into drinks and foods, and consequently the bodies of our kids.  This is why I continue my work in the Senate to ban BPA from the products we use to feed our babies and children.

We should not use our kids as guinea pigs with a chemical that may or may not seriously harm their health.  No chemical should be used in food products until it is proven to be safe.  For this reason, I will continue to fight to ban BPA-laden products by introducing an amendment to the Food Safety Modernization Act.

Until BPA is proven to be absolutely harm-free to our kids, BPA needs to be banned from plastic containers used for children.