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Securing “First In The Nation” Ban On BPA
Was A Team Effort

Presented research study conducted at Fox Chase Cancer Ctr. Zach Rotter, Walt Whitman H.S. and displayed at Suffolk hearing.

With The Next Generation Of Teens Leading The Way.

The Following Articles Were Written By Two Walt Whitman H.S. Students
Who Participated In This Effort.

Tehreem Rehman
Bisphenol-A is a speciously innocuous chemical due to its omnipresent nature. Bisphenol-A (BPA) can be found in countless items ranging from a pair of eyeglasses to water bottles. Yet, over 90% of government-funded studies have demonstrated that BPA at low levels can adversely affect human health and that 93% of all Americans have some level of BPA in their bodies. Every parent with whom I have shared this information with had initially reacted with shock – “Can this be true?” – to fear – “Oh my god. Were my children also exposed to BPA in their baby bottles? If so, how much?” – to ultimately, anger – “If there is so much evidence indicating even the possibility of BPA contributing to human health problems ranging from breast cancer to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, how come the government has not taken sufficient steps yet to protect me and my children?”

LITEA members, Laraib Khan, Rubab Rehman, Tehreem Rehman (rear) Zach Rotter … next generation speaks out on banning BPA

For far too long, the FDA and other government agencies have adhered to the “innocent until proven guilty” approach towards removing deleterious contaminants from consumers’ products. They justify this by claiming that the supposed “arbitrary” removal of suspected environmental toxins will unnecessarily hurt production of various goods. With the current state of the economy, this rationale has become increasingly popular among the opponents of this particular legislation and similar ones like it. However, as history has consistently shown, cyclical fluctuations in the economy are inevitable and that every time there is a recession, an expansionary period in the economy soon ensues. Yet, the damage that these chemicals are inflicting upon our health is irrevocable.

Furthermore, we cannot simply sit back and leave the burden on consumers to purchase safe products. American consumers have for so long felt secure in the assumption that all products available to them on the market are completely safe – and they should have the right to continue to do so. Yet, with manufacturers refusing to take on the responsibility of insuring that their products are all safe, the quality of Americans lives are suffering.

Health activist groups across Long Island and New York support S.C. legislation banning BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups. Shown here with Legislator Steve Stern (middle).

Just because a particular chemical has been used in the production of goods for a long time does not justify its continued use when an increasing body of scientific evidence demonstrates that it adversely affects human health. This is particularly dumbfounding when other safer alternatives to the chemical are easily available. An adamant attitude towards maintaining the incorporation of deleterious compounds precludes necessary research in finding even more alternatives that can possibly be cheaper.

As citizens with rights, which includes the right to lead a healthy life, we must ask ourselves - how much is exactly enough to prove that that these chemicals are hurting our bodies? Not too long ago, the cigarette companies had challenged studies linking smoking tobacco to lung cancer, arguing that the studies merely established a correlation rather than causation. Now we know better.

Fortunately, Suffolk County Legislator Steve Stern had recognized the significance of banning BPA from consumers’ products, when he proposed a bill called the the Toxin-Free Toddlers and Babies Act. While the legislation was limited to only banning baby bottles and sippy cups, it was incontrovertibly a major first step. Babies and toddlers are especially susceptible to the harmful effects of BPA due to the fact that their immune systems are not yet fully developed. I was fortunate to receive the opportunity to present testimony in support of the bill at several hearings. While reading my testimony, there were about a dozen teenagers sitting behind me – all members of the Long Island Teen Environmental Activists (LITEA) organization, ready to demonstrate that the next generation was fully supportive of this bill. I had founded LITEA last year to spread awareness about the ubiquitous nature of environmental toxins in our community and how exposure to them adversely affects our health.

At one of the hearings, I remember becoming extremely upset when one legislator implied that since the other students and I who had given testimony looked perfectly fine, BPA obviously wasn’t harmful to one’s health. Unfortunately, this insinuation stemmed from two major flawed assumptions. One, that all of the students, including myself, had drunk from plastic bottles when we were younger. And two, that the adverse affects on our health are ostensible. For instance, methyl mercury, a known neurotoxic chemical which I had done research on over the summer, has been shown to cause IQ level drops in children, and BPA, like other environmental toxins, has been shown to weaken our immune systems. One obviously cannot point at an individual and ascertain his or her IQ level or the state of his or her immune system. Would this legislator have preferred students being wheeled to the front of the podium instead to prove the harmful effects of BPA?

Nevertheless, on March 3rd, the Toxin Free Toddlers and Babies Act was unanimously passed, and on April 2nd, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy signed the bill making Suffolk County the nation’s first BPA-free jurisdiction. It was truly an exhilarating experience to support a bill that would in essence eliminate an environmental hazard from our community and to see Suffolk County uphold its reputation as being proactive and pioneering through its legislation.

Tehreem Rehman participated in the 2007 Students and Scientists internship program.

The LITEA (Long Island Teen Environmental Activists) was formed under Tehreem’s leadership, she continues volunteering to make a difference in raising environmental awareness.

Tehreem was nominated Valedictorian for Class of 2009, Walt Whitman HS and early acceptance into Columbia University.

Zachary Rotter
I have heard it stated “…We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we simply borrow it from our children.” With the passing of the Toxin Free Toddlers and
Babies act, we are one giant step closer to realizing this proverb in Suffolk County. Thanks to the tenacious efforts of a small group of high school students, and the
unfailing support of HBCAC and other grassroots breast cancer coalitions, Suffolk County is first in the nation to pioneer legislation prohibiting the use of Bisphenol-A (BPA) in infant and toddler consumer products. BPA is a chemical additive used in hard plastics to help these products keep their shape after numerous usages and washings. BPA has long been suspected as a toxin linked to breast cancer, with significant exposure occurring as early as infancy. It all started out
inconspicuously enough…

Last year, as a sophomore at Walt Whitman High School, I was selected for a research internship at the renowned Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC) in
Philadelphia, Pa. Two other students and I from Long Island interned in a lab run by Drs. Jose and Irma Russo, where we were mentored by PhD’s and doctoral
fellows. Each student was assigned a chemical for carcinogenic breast cancer implication in controlled laboratory experiments. The chemical I was assigned was
BPA. Throughout the course of my experiment, it became more and more apparent to me that BPA was a chemical which no one should ever have to be exposed to. This became more apparent when I discovered a previously unknown genetic link between BPA and Inflammatory Breast Cancer, (IBC), a rare but highly invasive and often fatal form of breast cancer. The results of the findings from the internship were presented to the researchers of FCCC in a power point presentation and a subsequent question and answer session.

In November 2008, I was invited to by Drs. Jose and Irma Russo and HBCAC to attend the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers’ (BCERC) national conference, sponsored by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in Birmingham, Alabama. At this conference I presented my findings in the form of a poster presentation, and fielded questions from scientists, biologists,
and other breast cancer researchers attending the conference.

On February 3, 2009, Suffolk (NY) County Legislator Steve Stern (Dem., Dix Hills) proposed the Toxin Free Toddlers and Babies Act. I was contacted by HBCAC to accompany them and go before the legislature to present my poster and research findings in support of the proposed ban of BPA baby products. We met with the legislature multiple times both in committee and in full session. Although I thought the
proposed BPA ban appeared to be a “no brainer,” (who wouldn’t want to prevent toxicity in infants and toddlers?), we were surprised to hear the testimony from chemical company representatives stating there was not sufficient evidence connecting BPA with carcinogenic findings. This was in spite of over 130 scientifically
reviewed and published reports that demonstrated BPA’s adverse effects to the developing human body while merely 11 reports stated otherwise. These were funded coincidentally in part by the plastics and manufacturing industry. Although some of the opponents of the bill brought up the fact we are in an economic crisis and therefore we should “wait” to enact these changes, we countered with, “Why should we
“wait” to ban such a known carcinogenic chemical from the most vulnerable of our population… our future? Toddlers would not wait to keep growing. BPA would not wait to unleash its effects on the human body. The longer we waited, the more at risk our
future would become.”

Apparently the legislature heard us and gave credence to our overwhelming research and information. On March 3rd the Suffolk County legislature unanimously passed the legislation, and on April 2nd, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy signed the bill,
the first in the nation to recognize the toxic effects of BPA and ban its use in commercially sold infant and toddler baby items.

My research was initially prompted by my grandmother who is a 27-year breast cancer survivor. Now I see that if these groundbreaking steps can be viewed
with credibility, and the results can continue to be validated by further research, we can experience huge steps toward insuring Prevention Is The Cure.

Zachary Rotter participated in 2008 Students and Scientists internship program and presented his research findings on links between BPA and inflammatory
breast cancer at the Breast Cancer and Environment Research Centers conference. Zach is a LITEA member and provided testimony in front of the Suffolk County Legislature supporting legislation banning BPA.