New mom Margy Belchak says she was shocked to learn that many baby bottles and toddler sippy cups contained a toxin linked to cancer, brain disorders and obesity. So when she was searching for products for her 16-month-old son Frankie, she made a conscious decision to avoid items containing Bisphenol A.

"Health and safety are the top concerns of any parent," she says. "Because babies and children are growing so rapidly...even small doses are very toxic."

Belchak stood with Aldermen Manny Flores (D-1) and Edmund Burke (D-14) at City Hall this morning as they introduced a new version of a proposed city ordinance that would ban products that contain the chemical, commonly known as BPA, used by children under 3. A council committee approved the measure today and the full City Council is scheduled to vote on Wednesday.

If the ordinance is approved, Chicago would be the first city in the United States to ban BPA products. Minnesota recently instituted a state ban, and Canada has a nationwide ban.

"It (Bisphenol A) lines nearly every food can sold in the United States, it's in baby bottles and it's in lots of other products," says Max Muller, program director for Environment Illinois, an environmental advocacy organization. "There are hundreds of studies indicating that this chemical causes harm at low doses -- the same doses that children are exposed to from drinking from baby bottles that contain Bisphenol A."

While the FDA maintains BPA is safe, numerous studies say otherwise, says  Dr. Gail Prins, a professor of urology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has studied the affect of BPA on young animals.

"When we expose our young animals...to very low doses of Bisphenol A...my research shows that there's an increased susceptibility to developing prostate cancer as one ages," she says.

Flores said it is important to stamp out the chemical, which can injure children as they develop, calling BPA an "insidious" chemical.

"We cannot afford to wait any longer for the FDA to continue to take no action," he says.

In March, Flores and Burke told the City Council that they would push for a ban if the federal government did not institute a ban.

"It was indeed our hope that the federal government would have taken action by now, but that is not the case," Burke says. This "is something that simply cannot be ignored anymore."

"The Chicago City Council is not going to wait and it is sending a strong message, not only to the FDA, but to other jurisdictions, other communities, saying it is time to move forward, it is time to protect our children," Flores says.

Burke says he hopes a Chicago ban would spur the state General Assembly to propose a statewide ban. He says if the ordinance is passed, merchants would have to self-police themselves to comply.

"Each of these retailers has a license they're worried about, and they're not going to do anything to jeopardize their ability to have a license to do business in the city of Chicago," Burke says.

Violators would be subject to fines ranging from $100 to $500, and would run the risk of losing their business licenses.

Last year, a similar ordinance was introduced, which included a ban on products containing BPA and used by children under the age of 7. That proposal was not approved.