| dc.description.abstract | Recently, there has been great dispute about the effects of bisphenol A (herein referred to
as BPA) leaching into baby bottles. This led to Canada being the first country to ban
BPA in baby bottles in April of 2008 (CBC, 2008). This decision elicited criticism from
the USA Food and Drug and Administration (FDA) but according to Health Ministry
Tony Clement, “it is better to be safe than sorry” (CBC, 2008). It is this uncertainty of
the effects due to the exposure of BPA that has fueled an interest for the topic of this
paper. The purpose of this paper is to do a policy analysis in regards to BPA and the
effects of industry sponsored research, specialty groups and the role of the media
(newsprint). The next section of this paper looks at the methodology employed to
identify sources, followed by a detailed look at how policy analysis is conducted in
Canada and the key research findings on BPA from special interest groups coupled with
the role that the media played in the decision to ban BPA in Canada. The last section
describes the relevance and implications of the role played by these sources in public
health and the future significance that these findings will have on public health practice,
policy and research. | |
