Helium, Vonda Sines
Published February 7, 2008
One of the most overlooked hazards to your baby looks harmless. It's a
polycarbonate plastic baby bottle.
According to The Chicago Tribune, researchers concerned with the evils of a common chemical known as bisphenol-A (BPA) suggest you should toss out these baby bottles along with any toys suspected of containing lead or dangerous magnets.
BPA can be found in a variety of manufactured items, according to a Tribune article titled "As Long As You're Hauling Out Toys, Take Some Plastic" by Julie Deardorff. Some typical products with BPA include liners of food cans, lenses in your eyeglasses, and shatterproof baby bottles. With regular use, the chemical bond between BPA and the polycarbonate in a baby bottle breaks down and leaches from the plastic.
Industry utilizes more than 6 billion pounds of BPA each year, according to author Daniel J. DeNoon. He indicates that The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) believes that 95 percent of Americans have measurable amounts of the toxic chemical in our blood. It's half-life in the human body is about six hours.
Deardorff maintains that researchers have found BPA acts similar to the
female sex hormone known as estradiol. During animal studies, scientists have noted female reproductive problems, early onset of puberty, and cancer of the breast and the prostate at even low levels of exposure to BPA. They also cite a link to lowered sperm counts and developmental issues.
According to The Tribune, last year a Federal panel voiced "some concern" about the risk to brain development of fetuses, babies, or children. However, scientists are arguing big time about the relationship, if any, between animal studies and effects on human beings.
Deardorff indicates that a group of 38 independent researchers recently
warned that even very low levels of BPA exposure could cause adverse health effects, especially to a fetus.
What about a replacement for your baby's plastic bottles? The most obvious alternative is glass. However, switching now won't help your older child, who drank from a plastic bottle for two years, some researchers believe. One of the reasons opinion is divided over the older child is the range of sensitivity to BPA that scientists have observed among individuals.
Fortunately, there are now a number of BPA-free bottles on retailers'
shelves. If you want to make a switch but your child will not tolerate
another type of nipple, Deardorff suggests that you can still manage to
lower the risk of BPA exposure in these ways:
1. Avoid heating the plastic bottle. This means steering clear of a
dishwasher, sterilizer, or microwave. The incidence of leaching is much more severe from heated than unheated plastic bottles. One alternative is to heat milk in a pan on top of the stove, let it cool, then pour it into the bottle.
2. Discard any cracked bottles. Leaching increased after a bottle had been washed more than 20 times, went through prolonged daily use, or became scratched, researchers noted.
3. Switch to safer brands. Bottles manufactured from BPA-free polypropylene are still on the market. Some of the brands include Medela, Born Free, and Adiri Natural Nurses. Also be sure to check the recycling labels since many No. 7 bottles contain BPA. By contrast, most No. 2, 4, and 5 plastic bottles are made of polyethylene or polypropylene.
DeNoon suggests you can avoid the BPA problem altogether if your baby will tolerate a switch from canned formula to a powdered product. He cites reports from a March 2007 study by The Environmental Working Group in which national laboratory tested 97 cans of food purchased in Atlanta, GA; Oakland, CA, and Clinton, CT.
Tests proved cans of chicken soup, baby formula, and ravioli had the highest BPA level. A full one third of the cans with infant formula had BPA levels 200 times the Government's safe exposure level.
Deardorff also cites Ari Brown, co-author of the 2005 book "Baby 411". Brown urges parents to simply avoid using any polycarbonate bottles until researchers know more about the impact of BPA.
As for your little one, you can replace all your plastic bottles for just $50.00 to $100.00.
