The Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine launched a new attack on children’s products containing bisphenol-A last week.

The group, along with Mainely Moms and Dads, announced plans to petition the Maine Board of Environmental Protection to ban BPA in containers of infant formula and baby or toddler food, according to a report in the Bangor Daily News. Maine has already banned BPA in reusable beverage containers sold in the state, which goes into effect starting Jan. 1, 2013.

The rally at the Statehouse kicked off an effort to collect signatures to push Maine’s Board of Environmental Protection to consider a new rule eliminating BPA from containers. Under Maine’s Kid-Safe Products Act, the board has the authority to regulate the use of BPA in foods intentionally marketed to children under 3, but the board hasn’t acted on that authority, according to a statement on the organization’s website.

The group also announced in a study it conducted in January, BPA was found in all but one of the containers of baby and toddler food tested. The group sent samples of various baby and toddler foods to Anresco Laboratories in San Francisco, for chemical analysis.

We hope the Board of Environmental Protection will ensure food containers for baby and children’s products are safe by keeping BPA out of them. The board should be doing the testing and checking to make sure manufacturers are abiding by state laws.

While it would be ideal to keep BPA out of all food and beverage containers, the effects of chemicals on infants and young children are often far more severe than those on adults, which is why these laws are so important.

BPA has been linked to cancer, obesity, learning disabilities, male infertility, and early puberty in girls.

Children are already fighting an uphill battle when it comes to obesity and development. With concerns about learning disabilities coming from too many immunizations at once, and cancer scares arising from electromagnetic fields from cell phones, computers and televisions, one simple thing we can do is keep BPA out of children’s products ”“ and ensure compliance by testing those products.

Many manufacturers say they already choose not to use BPA in children’s products, which means the chemical shouldn’t be showing up in tests ”“ and companies shouldn’t have a problem with being held to this standard.

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Today’s editorial was written by City Editor Robyn Burnham on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.