And the Winner for Worst Breakthrough Performance Goes to

Bisphenol-A, or BPA, a synthetic sex hormone leaching from baby bottles and in canned food, took home a Toxie for “Worst Breakthrough Performance.”

With all the hullaballoo around the Academy Awards (Is Jeff Bridges a shoo-in? Does Avatar really deserve best picture?) you might have missed the red carpet awards ceremony at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater on Wednesday: The Toxies. It was the first-annual tongue-in-cheek awards ceremony for “Bad Actor” chemicals—an effort by Californians for a Healthy & Green Economy (CHANGE) to draw attention to the need to better regulate toxic chemicals. While the group focuses on California, the chemicals they highlight are pervasive throughout our environment and in the products we buy (for more, read Susan McGrath’s article "Pandora’s Water Bottle" on endocrine disruptors, chemicals that mimic the effects of hormones and harm living organisms).

A few of the winners:

-Lead: Lifetime Achievement in Harm
-Mercury: Worst and Longest Running Performance -Perfluorinated Chemicals: Worst Revival Performance -Phthalates: Worst Makeup
-NMP: Worst Stripper Performance

Visit the Toxies Facebook page for funny photos of various (sexy) actors portraying chemicals, and information about the toxins (the video above is informative, too). The Toxies were timed not only for the Oscars, but also in advance of next week’s release of California’s Department of Toxic Substances’ Green Chemistry Initiative, a list of harmful chemicals and a set of requirements designed to keep toxics and non-biodegradable products out of the state, the LA Times reports.

And for tips on how to avoid these and other toxic chemicals, check out McGrath’s helpful list.