STAND. COM. REP. NO. 904

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 396

       H.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 396, H.D. 2, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TOXIC PRODUCTS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to promote the health and safety of young children by prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and distribution of reusable food and drink containers containing bisphenol A that are intended for use by children under three years of age.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one individual.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the American Chemistry Council.

 

     Your Committee finds that there is a need to protect young children from exposure to bisphenol A. In July 2012, the United States Food and Drug Administration banned the use of bisphenol A in infant feeding bottles and spill-proof cups.  Previously, the National Toxicology Program at the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration had expressed some concern about the potential effects of bisphenol A on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and young children.  The American Medical Association recently developed a policy supporting industry action to stop producing baby bottles and infant feeding cups containing bisphenol A and supports a ban on the sale of such products.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 396, H.D. 2, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

 

 

 

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, Chair