Safer Plastics - Bisphenol A

By now you've likely heard about Bisphenol-A - or BPA. While you may not know what it is, it's hard not to notice all the baby feeding and teething gear touting itself as "BPA Free" these days - which is a good thing! Why? BPA is a chemical that can disrupt hormones in our bodies, and even very small amounts of it might cause health problems for babies down the road. BPA is used to make polycarbonate plastic. Polycarbonate is the hard, clear plastic that many baby bottles and reusable water bottles were made of until a year or two ago. BPA can leach from these bottles into the liquid you or your baby is drinking. If you've got hand-me-down Avent bottles from a friend's three year old, they've got BPA in them (and if they're yellow or scratched up, it's even more prone to leach out). Leaching increases if bottles are heated (including in the dishwasher), and as they age. These problems could include early onset of puberty, early mammary gland development, decreased testosterone and sperm production, changes in immune system function, and behavioral effects including hyperactivity, increased aggressiveness, and impaired learning. To avoid BPA in baby products, don't use polycarbonate bottles or sippy cups, particularly if they are old or scratched. Choose new bottles that are BPA-free, or make sure that your hand-me-down bottles are safe choices. Don't heat foods in any type of plastic. Heat liquids and foods in glass or ceramic and then transfer into plastic when they are cool enough to drink or eat. BPA is also used as a lining in most canned food. To find out which choices are safer, look here or here. To read more about BPA including the latest studies on health effects, check out Our Stolen Future or delve further into the links above.