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Playtex Sued Over Chemical in Baby Bottles

An Arkansas woman has sued Playtex for allegedly manufacturing baby bottles with a chemical linked to serious health problems.

Ashley Campbell filed the class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. Playtex's headquarters are in Westport, Conn.

This is the latest legal action over the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA.

The substance is a component of clear polycarbonate plastic, used in baby bottles, pacifiers and other products.

The complaint says the class could include hundreds of thousands of people from all over the U.S. who bought Playtex plastic bottles.

Numerous studies and scientific papers have shown that BPA can be toxic to humans even at extremely low doses, the suit says.

Some studies have linked BPA to hormone disruptions and cancer.

The chemical leaches from the plastic into liquid or food when the product is heated, the complaint says.

The suit charges that Playtex breached its duty to consumers by failing to disclose that the polycarbonate bottles contain BPA.

The complaint asserts design or manufacturing defect, failure to warn, breach of implied warranty, unjust enrichment and violation of Connecticut law.

Campbell is seeking actual and punitive damages.

The plastic industry maintains that the Environmental Protection Agency and the Consumer Products Safety Commission have found that products containing BPA pose no risk to consumers.

However, in April Canada became the first country to find BPA unsuitable for use in baby bottles.

Additionally two U.S. senators introduced legislation April 29 that would prohibit the use of the chemical in all children's products.

Another suit was filed in California state court in March over BPA in baby bottles, charging that manufacturers failed to warn consumers of its dangers to children.

A class-action suit also was filed in the Eastern District of California over the alleged health risks from Nalgene sports bottles that contain BPA.

To comment, ask questions or contribute articles, contact West.Andrews.Editor@Thomson.com.

Ashley Campbell is represented by James Hartley Jr. of Drubner & Hartley in Waterbury, Conn.; Edith Kallas, Joe Whatley and Dominque Day of Whatley Drake & Kallas in New York; and Jack Patterson and Jeremy Hutchinson of Patton Roberts in Little Rock, Ark.