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Scientists and lawyers are scheduled to debate the safety of certain "BPA-free" plastics this week in a U.S. District Court in Austin, Texas.

At issue is whether a line of plastic resins marketed by Eastman Chemical contains chemicals that can act like the hormone estrogen, and perhaps cause health problems.

The court battle has attracted attention because the Eastman resins, sold under the name "Tritan," have been marketed as an alternative to plastics that contain an additive called BPA. BPA has been shown to act a bit like estrogen, though it's not clear whether people are affected by the small amounts that come from plastic water bottles or food containers.

Eastman has sued two small companies based in Austin, Texas that published a study showing that a wide range of plastic products exhibit what's known as estrogenic activity. Some of the products were made from Eastman's Tritan.

Eastman's suit says PlastiPure and CertiChem, have made false or misleading statements about Tritan in marketing their own services. CertiChem tests plastic products for estrogenic activity. PlastiPure, a sister company, helps manufacturers make plastic products with no estrogenic activity.

Both companies were founded by George Bittner, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and an author of the study that found estrogenic activity in most plastics. The study included tests of plastic products that had been subjected to heat, wear, and radiation intended to mimic exposure to sunlight.

"We certainly thought the results were not going to be greeted with favor by at least some plastic manufacturers," Bittner says. But, he says, "by bringing suit, Eastman Chemical has effectively put its Tritan product on trial."

Eastman Chemical wouldn't comment for this story. But in an interview last year, Lucian Boldea, a vice president of the company, said Bittner's study used a screening test for estrogenic activity that is known to produce false positives.

"To misrepresent a screening test as conclusive evidence is what we have the issue with," he said.

From The Archives

Health

Plastic's New Frontier: No Scary Chemicals

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Saying the post has been "the highlight of my professional career," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Friday morning that she is stepping down to become president of the University of California.

Her statement followed a Reuters report that broke the news.

And the Los Angeles Times reported early this morning that:

"Napolitano's nomination by a committee of UC regents came after a secretive process that insiders said focused on her early as a high-profile, although untraditional, candidate who has led large public agencies and shown a strong interest in improving education."

Newly released documents appear to further undermine the idea that Tea Party groups were the only ones given extra scrutiny by the IRS for potential political activity.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, obtained and has released a PowerPoint presentation and minutes from an IRS workshop on July 28, 2010, instructing agents to flag applications for tax-exempt status from "progressive" groups as well as those with "Tea Party," "patriot" or "9/12" in their names. Another document shows that "Occupy" groups were later added to a list of organizations to be tapped for extra scrutiny.

In a letter to the committee's chairman, California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, Cummings says the documents "raise serious questions about the Inspector General's report, his testimony before Congress, and his subsequent assertions in letters to Members of Congress."

In mid-May, the IRS inspector general's audit found the agency used "inappropriate criteria" that singled out "Tea Party and other organizations applying for tax-exempt status based upon their names or policy positions" rather than looking at their activities. Groups seeking 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status can engage in only a limited amount of campaign activity, and those seeking charitable 501(c)(3) status can't get involved in campaigns at all. In testimony and subsequent letters to members of Congress, Inspector General J. Russell George said his team found no evidence that "progressives" was a term used to refer cases for potential scrutiny.

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President Gerald R. Ford, the only American to serve as both vice president and president without ever being elected to either office, was born 100 years ago Sunday.

Ford will be remembered for his role in the turbulent post-Watergate era. But a little-known story from his college days might also serve to define Ford's character.

The Gerald Ford We Know

In 1973, Ford was a congressman from Grand Rapids, Mich., who had risen through the ranks to become House minority leader. In those days before C-SPAN, Ford was barely known to most Americans.

But that all changed in December of that year, when President Richard Nixon selected him to replace Spiro Agnew as vice president because of Agnew's bribery scandal. By the following August, Nixon was out, and Ford inherited the Oval Office.

The Picture Show

Presidential Access: Unguarded Moments, Captured On Film