American Chemistry Council

All that research pointing to big problems with BPA for humans appears to have yet another, powerful study in its corner, this one a  study of Chinese workers showing that exposure causes erectile dysfunction and other sexual problems in men. It’s the first study to examine the impact of bisphenol on the reproductive system of human males. Previous studies have examined mice or rats.

The compound is found in thousand of consumer products – from your plastic water bottles to baby bottles to the lining of canned food to dental sealants -- and has been detected in the urine of 93 percent of the U.S. population. The Washington Post, reporting on the study published in the journal of Human Reproduction, said the study, funded by the federal government, found that the men handling BPA were four times as likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction and seven times as likely to have problems with ejaculation.

Congratulations to the citizens of San Jose for having a city council with the vision to become the largest city in the nation to ban most paper and plastic shopping bags. Not only did the the city take those steps last night, but they brought along other cities in the county with them, the San Jose Mercury reports this morning.

Let's hope now that the history doesn't repeat itself like it did in Seattle recently, where the American Chemistry Council, the lobbying arm of the plastics industry, spent $1.4 million to first put on the ballot a measure to require voter approval, and then defeat the ballot measure that would have imposed a 20-cent per disposal bag tax. The money was used, frankly, to buy a campaign to confuse and scare voters. The opposition, vastly outgunned, spent only $80,000 to try to get the referendum passed. (By comparison, all eight candidates for mayor on the same Seattle ballot spent a combined $1 million. So in the city's context, it was big money, and contributors included Dow Chemical, ExxonMobil and plastic bag manufacturers.)

The plastics industry has aggressively challenged bans elsewhere in court, including Oakland, where a ban was put on hold after the plastics industry filed a lawsuit challenging the city's ban on plastic bags.

Will that replay itself in San Jose?

The American Chemistry Council has not been silent.

The American Chemistry Council has given $500,000 to a campaign to convince Seattle residents to vote down a 20-cent-a-bag tax on grocery bags, Mark Ramirez of the Seattle Times reports. The tax is intended to encourage shoppers to bring their own, non-disposeable bags to save landfill space and reduce the use of resources, particularly petroleum to make plastic bags.