BPA, or bisphenol-A, is an estrogen-like chemical that is used in many hard clear plastic products and in the linings of some food and beverage containers, including some:

• Baby bottles and sippy cups
• Reusable plastic bottles and food containers;
• Drink and food cans;
• Dental sealants;
• Cash-register receipts.

New research suggests that we have underestimated our dietary exposure to BPA.

When a container made with BPA is heated, the chemical leaches into the food. When you eat that food the chemical goes into your body where it could cause a range of health problems:

• Breast and prostate cancer,
• Heart disease and diabetes,
• Obesity, and
• Autism, learning disorders and early puberty in children.

I have been sounding the alarm about the dangers of bisphenol-A for several years, and have introduced bills to remove this potentially harmful chemical from infant and toddler products in Pennsylvania. My latest bill, H.B. 192, is in the House Health Committee, but the chairman refuses to move the bill out of committee and send it to the full House for a vote

To reduce the amount of BPA in your body:

• Use fresh foods instead of canned products whenever possible.
• Avoid polycarbonates – plastics marked with recycling code #7 or the letters "PC."
• Look for plastics with recycling labels #1, #2, and #4 as they do not contain BPA.
• Avoid putting any plastic containers in the microwave.
• Wash all plastic containers on the top shelf of your dishwasher or by hand.
• Look for stainless steel reusable water bottles that do not have a liner as some metal bottles lined with an epoxy-based enamel coating could leach BPA.

The 2011-12 state budget may have been passed on time, but the aftermath is only about to begin for average Pennsylvanians. I voted against the budget because I believe it unfairly targets programs that help the middle class stay afloat, while continuing to give big business and natural gas industry executives free reign in Pennsylvania.

Gov. Corbett and Republican leaders forced a $27.7 billion budget through the legislature, refusing to return $785 million in surplus dollars to taxpayers, and failed to implement a fair tax on the natural gas industry or close a loophole that allows large corporations to dodge paying taxes in Pennsylvania.

Instead, they nearly eliminated state funding for a Pennsylvania program to help families in danger of losing their homes and keep surrounding property values from plummeting further due to foreclosures.

HARRISBURG – Today, state Rep. Lawrence Curry joined fellow House Democrats, as well as citizens served by adultBasic and a physician representative to call on Gov. Tom Corbett not to pull the plug on this insurance program for low-income Pennsylvania workers.

"It is not out of the realm of possibilities that Pennsylvanians will die if we don't keep adultBasic afloat. Such horrific results happened in Arizona when that state allowed its low-cost insurance for low-income people to end," said Curry, D-Montgomery/Phila.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency is adding bisphenol-A, or BPA, to its list of chemicals of concern. This will mean new EPA studies to determine its presence in surface water, groundwater and drinking water, and will require manufacturers that use BPA to provide test data to help evaluate its effects on growth, reproduction and development in aquatic organisms and wildlife. In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a statement expressing concern about the human health risks of BPA, which the agency had declared unsafe in 2008.

These two actions by federal agencies give credence to my H.B. 221, which would prohibit the manufacture or sale in Pennsylvania of baby bottles, training cups, formula cans or other child-care items that contain BPA.

My H.B. 221 would prohibit the manufacture or sale in Pennsylvania of baby bottles, training cups, formula cans and other child-care items containing bisphenol A. The House Consumer Affairs Committee recently held a public hearing on the bill, and WPVI Channel 6 Action News is preparing to air a story about BPA in infant formula cans and other items you may have in your home.  

The House Consumer Affairs Committee recently held a public hearing on my H.B. 221 that would prohibit the manufacture or sale in Pennsylvania of baby bottles, training cups, formula cans and other child-care items that contain bisphenol A.   

Please visit my Web site to learn more about this important effort and to see my comments from the hearing and read my paper on BPA. 

Applications for the state Persian Gulf Conflict Veterans' Bonus Program are available at my PA House Web site.

Under the program, eligible Persian Gulf War veterans can receive $75 for each month of service in the first Persian Gulf War. Prisoners of war and the families of troops who died as a result of the war can receive $5,000.

To qualify for the program, a veteran must have served on active duty in the Persian Gulf during the period from Aug. 2, 1990, to Aug. 31, 1991; received the Southwest Asia Service Medal; been a legal resident of Pennsylvania at the time of military service; and served under honorable conditions.

Rep. Curry hosts a hearing of the House Health & Human Services Committee regarding legislation he has introduced that would establish a Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Education and Prevention Program in Pennsylvania to help new parents learn how to reduce the threat of SIDS by using safe sleeping practices for newborns and infants.

With a photo of her daughter behind her, Christina Valentin of Philadelphia testifies at Rep. Curry's hearing on SIDS. Velentin's infant daughter, Carmen, died last spring when she fell asleep in her parents' bed and smothered when her father rolled over her in his sleep. Valentin said if she had known the importance of safe sleeping practices for infants, she would have never put the baby to sleep in her bed.

Eileen Carlins, director and support educator of SIDS of Pennsylvania, who lost a child to SIDS, testifies at Rep. Curry's hearing that the number of SIDS deaths in Pennsylvania could be cut if parents understood safe sleeping habits for newborns and infants, which include laying the infant on his or her back in an uncluttered crib with a firm mattress covered by a tightly fitting sheet. Infants should never be put to sleep in parent's or sibling's bed.

Rep. Curry attends a House Education Committee hearing on how to educate the state’s gifted students.

Rep. Curry hosts a House Insurance Committee hearing on his bill that would establish a standard of care for people with hemophilia and other bleeding disorders. The hearing was held at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.