Canadian health officials announced plans Friday to limit the use of the controversial chemical bisphenol A, a move that could lead to a ban on baby bottles containing the chemical.
A draft report from Health Canada found the chemical to be potentially dangerous to infants and the environment, CTV reported.
The widely used chemical is also found in hard plastic water bottles, dental sealants, DVDs, CDs and hundreds of other common items. Canadian Health Minister Tony Clement said the levels of bisphenol A (BPA) that most adults are exposed to is not harmful.
Health Canada's action could be the first step toward Canada banning the chemical altogether, the Associated Press reported.
Earlier this week, the U.S. National Toxicology Program said there was "some concern" about BPA from experiments on rats that linked the chemical to changes in behavior and the brain, early puberty and possibly precancerous changes in the prostate and breast. While animal studies only provide "limited evidence" of risk, the draft report said a possible effect on humans "cannot be dismissed," the AP said.
More than 6 million pounds of BPA are produced in the United States each year, the AP said.