On May 19, 2008, an Arkansas woman filed a federal lawsuit against Playtex Products, alleging the company made plastic baby bottles with bisphenol A, an industrial chemical potentially linked to serious health problems. The federal lawsuit seeks nationwide class-action status.

The National Toxicology Program said in April 2008 that it was concerned about the effect bisphenol A may have. Experiments on rats have linked the chemical to changes in behavior and the brain, early puberty, and potentially precancerous changes in the prostate and breast.

A spokeswoman for Playtex said bisphenol A is deemed safe by United States and regulatory bodies worldwide. But the Playtex lawsuit argues that hundreds of studies and papers have confirmed bisphenol A can be toxic, even at low levels.

Source: John Christoffersen, “Lawsuit filed against maker of baby bottles with BPA,” Washington Post, May 29, 2008.