BPA-free bottles?
You have probably heard a lot lately about BPA, Bisphenol-A, a chemical used in plastic water bottles, some plastic bags and storage containers, baby toys and baby bottles. There isn’t one hundred percent conclusive evidence of how bad it is and why but does seem to be some reason to avoid it if at all possible. You can read more blogs about BPA here, and here.
BPA is thought to mimic naturally occurring estrogens in the body produced by the endocrine system. These hormones effect brain development and reproductive-organ development. The chemicals are thought to increase the risk of developmental problems in a fetus.
I am not trying to alarm anyone or even take sides in this matter. The facts are this: plastics are great products, plastics are made from chemicals, there are a number of potentially harmful chemicals in plastics and the long-term effects are not all known at this time. It is usually best to use any product, especially one whose full effects are unknown, in moderation. Therefore, there are some plastic bottle alternatives, and ways to use plastic safely. (Don’t reheat food in plastic containers.) Click here to read all that you never wanted to know about plastics.
The obvious alternative is glass baby bottles but having glass around my baby and the risk of breakages does worry me a bit. With the numbers of bottle-fed babies growing these days parents have a big decision to make. Even many breast-fed babies get occasional bottles too. It seems to me that an occasional feeding with a plastic bottle is nothing to worry about, but, repeated prolonged use of plastic products with unreliable facts as this point is reason enough to consider a BPA-free plastic or glass bottles.
Evenflo and Dr.Brown make a variety of glass bottles, but you do pay a premium for the plastic alternative. The chemicals leach out of the plastic when it is heated. Because baby bottles are heated for each feeding, you can see the potential dilemma.
Born-Free makes BPA-free plastic bottles. 2-5 ounce bottles retails for $17.99 a whopping triple the price of ordinary plastic bottles.
Momo, 6 ounce glass bottles come in a package of three for $13.99 from Amazon.com.
March 7th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Admittedly, I didn’t read up on all the links you included, but what I have read confirmed what you said: the chemicals leach out of the bottles when the bottles are heated. Formula can be served at room temperatures, so you can cut the risk almost entirely there. The main danger would be, if you do that, dishwashing your bottles. So handwashing in warm or lukewarm soapy water is probably the way to go.
I’m such a fan of information, but think there’s enough scary out there in parenting.