Beginning in March 2011, the European Union will outlaw the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in the manufacture of plastic baby bottles, and their import and sales will be proscribed in June 2011.
Labeled an “estrogen-like chemical” and “endocrine disruptor,” BPA was banned from baby products in Canada earlier this year.

When it comes to beauty products and services, it should come as no surprise that women will go to great, and sometimes questionable, lengths to attain the apogee of glamour. For a portion of these women, a new hair treatment technique called the Brazilian Blowout, that claims to eliminate frizz and improve the condition of hair, offers a powerful tool for responding to the perils of untamed tresses. But some consumers and regulators are worried that the process comes with risks.

The vast skepticism held by many Americans about vaccines may be the reason why in excess of 70 million doses of H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine were left unused in the spring of 2010, according to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Even when word of the H1N1 pandemic broke out last year and fear of the virus was widespread, fewer than half of all adults surveyed were willing to get vaccinated.

In the first national physician survey conducted by the American Medical Association, study researchers found that 78 percent of the 2,400 participating physicians believe insurers mandate preauthorization requirements for an unreasonable list of tests, procedures and drugs. Health insurers often require physicians to ask permission first before performing a treatment, which consumes a significant amount of time and complicates medical decisions.

Potentially deadly cancers such as colorectal, breast and cervical cancer are all too often detected in the late stages of the disease, and improper adherence to routine screening guidelines may be partially to blame, according to the CDC report “Surveillance of Screening-Detected Cancers (Colon and Rectum, Breast and Cervix) — United States, 2004-2006.” Late-stage colorectal cancer incidence rates increased with age and were highest among African Americans. Late-stage breast cancer was most common among African American women and those between the ages of 70 and 79.

Mothers-to-be need not fear using heartburn medications during their pregnancy, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine Wednesday. Danish researchers studied over 5000 cases of women using heartburn medications of the “proton-pump inhibitor” type — including Prilosec (omeprazole) — four weeks prior to and during the first trimester of pregnancy.

While many populations at risk for developing AIDS will be relieved that Truvada — a combination drug therapy already marketed for HIV treatment — can prevent HIV infection, it would seem that the drug’s potential to prevent the infection has been delayed for quite some time, The New York Times reports.

The efficacy of India’s anti-malaria efforts are being called into question following the publication of a recent study showing that malaria kills 13 times more Indians than previously estimated by the WHO. Published in The Lancet last month, the study, co-funded by the Center for Global Health Research and U.S.

Secondhand smoke supposedly contributed to one percent of the worldwide mortality rate during the course of 2004, according to a study published in last week’s The Lancet.

We hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving feasts last week. For those concerned about the safety of their meals, the National Review Online’s The Corner publicized ACSH’s Holiday Dinner Menu — now in its 28th year of circulation — in an op-ed by ACSH’s Dr.