Fishing buddies Jeff Bush and Paul Womack were browsing the shelves Monday at REI when Bush picked up one of the ubiquitous Nalgene water bottles that occupy the desks, cars or backpacks of just about every Alaskan.

"Is this gonna kill me?" Bush asked.

Good question.

Bisphenol A or BPA -- the chemical used in a variety of hard-plastic water bottles, baby bottles, sippy cups and food containers -- made big news last week.

A report from the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences warned that the chemical can leach into food and liquids and "may alter human development."

Meanwhile, the Canadian government proposed a ban on baby bottles made with BPA because of the chemical's potential toxicity.

In Anchorage, REI over the weekend stripped its shelves of water bottles containing BPA and replaced them with bottles made with a BPA-free material called Tritan. Small signs posted above racks filled with Nalgene and Camelbak bottles say REI will no longer sell bottles with BPA.

Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart stores in Anchorage still have baby bottles and sippy cups containing BPA on their shelves. According to news reports, Wal-Marts in Canada will get rid of those bottles and replace them with BPA-free products soon, while stores in this country will begin to phase them out at the end of the year. Fred Meyer didn't respond to inquiries about its plans for products with BPA.

Around the country, a number of stores and manufacturers -- including retailer Toys R Us, baby-bottle giant Playtex and water-bottle giant Nalgene -- have responded to growing consumer concerns by saying they will phase out bottles containing BPA.

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