AUGUSTA — Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s comment that the only bad thing about a chemical additive is that it might give women “little beards” has drawn a strong reaction from a health activist group.

LePage last week said he’s not seen enough science to support a ban on bisphenol-A. A 2008 law to keep it out of consumer products is likely to be debated again.

LePage is quoted in the Bangor Daily News as saying that all he’s heard is that “if you take a plastic bottle and put it in the microwave and you heat it up, it gives off a chemical similar to estrogen. So the worst case is some women may have little beards.”

Mike Belliveau of the Environmental Health Strategy Center said the comment “displays shocking ignorance for the science and a callous disregard for children’s health.”