I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1523 

To ban the use of bisphenol A in food containers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2009 

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts (for himself and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To ban the use of bisphenol A in food containers, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ban Poisonous Addi5 tives Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BAN ON USE OF BISPHENOL A IN FOOD AND BEV7 ERAGE CONTAINERS. 

8 (a) TREATMENT OF BISPHENOL A AS ADULTER9 ATING THE FOOD OR BEVERAGE.—For purposes of apply10 ing section 402(a)(6) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos11 metic Act (21 U.S.C. 342(a)(6)), a food container (which 


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1 for purposes of this Act includes a beverage container) 

2 that is composed, in whole or in part, of bisphenol A, or 

3 that can release bisphenol A into food (as defined for pur4 poses of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act), shall 

5 be treated as a container described in such section (relat6 ing to containers composed, in whole or in part, of a poi7 sonous or deleterious substance which may render the con8 tents injurious to health). 

9 (b) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

10 (1) REUSABLE FOOD CONTAINERS.— 

11 (A) DEFINITION.—In this Act, the term 

12 ‘‘reusable food container’’ means a reusable 

13 food container that does not contain a food 

14 item when it is introduced or delivered for in15 troduction into interstate commerce. 

16 (B) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (a) shall 

17 apply to reusable food containers on the date 

18 that is 180 days after the date of enactment of 

19 this Act. 

20 (2) OTHER FOOD CONTAINERS.—Subsection (a) 

21 shall apply to food containers that are packed with 

22 a food and introduced or delivered for introduction 

23 into interstate commerce on or after the date that 

24 is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

25 (c) WAIVER.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

2 Human Services (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec3 retary’’), after public notice and opportunity for 

4 comment, may grant to any facility (as that term is 

5 defined in section 415 of the Federal Food, Drug, 

6 and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 350d)) a waiver of the 

7 treatment described in subsection (a) for a certain 

8 type of food container, as used for a particular food 

9 product, if such facility— 

10 (A) demonstrates that it is not techno11 logically feasible to replace bisphenol A in such 

12 type of container for such particular food prod13 uct; and 

14 (B) submits to the Secretary a plan and 

15 timeline for removing bisphenol A from such 

16 type of container for that food product. 

17 (2) APPLICABILITY.—A waiver granted under 

18 paragraph (1) shall constitute a waiver of the treat19 ment described in subsection (a) for any facility that 

20 manufactures, processes, packs, holds, or sells the 

21 particular food product for which the waiver was 

22 granted. 

23 (3) LABELING.—Any product for which the 

24 Secretary grants such a waiver shall display a 

25 prominent warning on the label that the container 


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1 contains bisphenol A, in a manner that the Sec2 retary shall require, which manner shall ensure ade3 quate public awareness of potential health effects as4 sociated with bisphenol A. 

5 (4) DURATION.— 

6 (A) INITIAL WAIVER.—Any waiver granted 

7 under paragraph (1) shall be valid for not 

8 longer than 1 year after the applicable effective 

9 date in subsection (b). 

10 (B) RENEWAL OF WAIVER.—The Secretary 

11 may renew any waiver granted under subpara12 graph (A) for a period of not more than 1 year. 

13 (d) LIST OF SUBSTANCES THAT ARE GENERALLY

14 RECOGNIZED AS SAFE.— 

15 (1) REVIEW.—The Secretary, acting through 

16 the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, shall, not 

17 later than 1 year after enactment of this Act and 

18 not less than once every 5 years thereafter, review— 

19 (A) the substances that are generally rec20 ognized as safe, listed in part 182 of title 21, 

21 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 

22 regulations); 

23 (B) the direct food substances affirmed as 

24 generally recognized as safe, listed in part 184 


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1 of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations (or any 

2 successor regulations); and 

3 (C) the indirect food substances affirmed 

4 as generally recognized as safe, listed in part 

5 186 of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

6 any successor regulations). 

7 (2) PUBLIC COMMENT.—In conducting the re8 view described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

9 provide public notice and opportunity for comment. 

10 (3) REMEDIAL ACTION.—If, after conducting 

11 the review described in paragraph (1), the Secretary 

12 determines that, with regard to a substance listed in 

13 such part 182, 184, or 186, new scientific evidence, 

14 including scientific evidence showing that the sub15 stance causes reproductive or developmental toxicity 

16 in humans or animals, supports— 

17 (A) banning a substance; 

18 (B) altering the conditions under which a 

19 substance may be introduced into interstate 

20 commerce; or 

21 (C) imposing restrictions on the types of 

22 products for which the substance may be used, 

23 the Secretary shall remove such substance from the 

24 list of substances, direct food substances, or indirect 

25 food substances generally recognized as safe, as apVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:59 Mar 17, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1523.IH H1523

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1 propriate, and shall take other remedial action, as 

2 necessary. 

3 (4) DEFINITION.—In this Act, the term ‘‘repro4 ductive or developmental toxicity’’ has the meaning 

5 given such term in section 409(h)(6) of the Federal 

6 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended by sec7 tion 3. 

8 (e) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this Act shall 

9 affect the right of a State, political subdivision of a State, 

10 or Indian tribe to adopt or enforce any regulation, require11 ment, liability, or standard of performance that is more 

12 stringent than a regulation, requirement, liability, or 

13 standard of performance under this Act or that— 

14 (1) applies to a product category not described 

15 in this Act; or 

16 (2) requires the provision of a warning of risk, 

17 illness, or injury associated with the use of food con18 tainers composed of bisphenol A. 

19 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 409 OF THE FEDERAL 

20 FOOD, DRUG, AND COSMETIC ACT. 

21 Subsection (h) of section 409 of the Federal Food, 

22 Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 348(h)(1)) is amend23 ed— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘manufacturer or supplier 

2 for a food contact substance may’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘manufacturer or supplier for a food con4 tact substance shall’’; 

5 (B) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘notify the 

6 Secretary of’’; 

7 (C) by striking ‘‘, and of’’ and inserting ‘‘; 

8 (B)’’; and 

9 (D) by striking the period after ‘‘sub10 section (c)(3)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘; (C) the de11 termination of the manufacturer or supplier 

12 that no adverse health effects result from low 

13 dose exposures to the food contact substance; 

14 and (D) the determination of the manufacturer 

15 or supplier that the substance has not been 

16 shown, after tests which are appropriate for the 

17 evaluation of the safety of food contact sub18 stances, to cause reproductive or developmental 

19 toxicity in humans or animals.’’; and 

20 (2) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(6) In this section— 

23 ‘‘(A) the term ‘food contact substance’ 

24 means any substance intended for use as a 

25 component of materials used in manufacturing, 


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1 packing, packaging, transporting, or holding 

2 food if such use is not intended to have any 

3 technical effect in such food; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the term ‘reproductive or develop5 mental toxicity’ means biologically adverse ef6 fects on the reproductive systems of female or 

7 male humans or animals, including alterations 

8 to the female or male reproductive system de9 velopment, the related endocrine system, fer10 tility, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, or modi11 fications in other functions that are dependent 

12 on the integrity of the reproductive system.’’. 

Æ 


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