The federal government proposed a ban Friday on importing, selling and advertising plastic baby bottles containing bisphenol A (BPA), used to make plastic food and beverage containers.

Health Canada recently concluded newborns and infants can be exposed to BPA migrating from cans into infant formula and through the use of polycarbonate baby bottles subjected to high temperatures.

Although exposure levels were too low to pose a risk, Health Canada said the gap between exposure and effect was not large enough and is proposing the ban "to be prudent," the department said in a release.

The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposal.

Earlier this week, several retailers announced they were removing BPA products from their shelves in advance of Health Canada's pending announcement.

"We are taking immediate action to remove the product and offer only BPA-free baby products in our stores," said Hudson Bay Corp. president and CEO Robert Johnston in a statement announcing the removal of BPA baby products from its 94 Bay stores and 280 Zellers stores.

Similarly, Canadian Tire Corp. said it was removing plastic water bottles and food storage containers known to contain BPA from its Canadian Tire, Mark's Work Wearhouse and PartSource stores.