Born Free bottles
We were with friends from San Francisco this weekend. Our friend Elizabeth was using Born Free and Evenflo tempered glass baby bottles. I watched her wash them by hand each day and asked her about her bottles. She explained that they were Bisphenol-A free. Not knowing anything about this, she set out to explain it to me. I also did some research on it.
Here is a collage of thoughts on it.
From National Geographic’s http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/114/bpa
If you consume canned soups, beans and soft drinks,
organic or not, you also may be swallowing residues of a controversial
chemical called bisphenol A (BPA) that can leak out of the can linings
into your food. Nearly all can liners contain BPA, says Geoff Cullen,
director of government relations at the Can Manufacturers Institute. BPA
has also been found to migrate, under some conditions, from
polycarbonate plastic water bottles. Depending on whom you talk to, BPA is either perfectly safe or a
dangerous health risk. The plastics industry says it is harmless, but a
growing number of scientists are concluding, from some animal tests,
that exposure to BPA in the womb raises the risk of certain cancers,
hampers fertility and could contribute to childhood behavioral problems
such as hyperactivity.
Plastic water and baby bottles, food and beverage can linings and dental
sealants are the most commonly encountered uses of this chemical.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t stay put. BPA has been found to leach from
bottles into babies’ milk or formula; it migrates from can liners into
foods and soda and from epoxy resin-lined vats into wine; and it is
found in the mouths of people who’ve recently had their teeth sealed.
Ninety-five percent of Americans were found to have the chemical in
their urine in a 2004 biomonitoring study by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
…….Vom Saal counters that the studies showing BPA is safe are "profoundly
flawed and in some cases exhibit outright fraud." Last year, he
published a paper showing that 100 percent of the industry-funded
studies, 11 in all, found no harmful effects from BPA, while 90 percent
of government-funded low-dose studies, 104 in number, found harmful
effects. "Among people who have actually read this literature there is
no debate, just an illusion of controversy," he says.And, lastly from DaddyDrama
http://www.daddydrama.com/2006/03/health-risks-from-plastic-baby-bottles.html
Polycarbonate plastic baby bottles with BPA make up 90% of the market
while roughly 85 percent of U.S. food cans are lined with plastic
resins containing BPA. According to research by Dr. Frederick vom Saal
of the University of Missouri, BPA causes estrogen-like effects, lowers
sperm production, decreases the size of the seminal vesicle and
enlarges the prostate in test animals. The population in humas that
could be most affected by BPA’s dangers happen to be babies and
pregnant women, followed by young children, and women who might get
pregnant. As a result, consumer and health groups, led by the National Environmental Trust, asked the Food and Drug Administration and baby bottle manufacturers to remove BPA from polycarbonate plastic.However,
Dr. John Heinze, an environmental and health scientist for the American
Plastics Council, said they tried with 200 mice to replicate vom Saal’s
studies but were unsuccessful. Furthermore, “Considering all the
evidence, including measurements by FDA chemists of levels found in
canned foods or migrating from baby bottles, FDA sees no reason at this
time to ban or otherwise restrict the uses [of BPA] now in practice,”
stated the FDA.
I have to say, I can’t believe Dr. John Heinze that is employed by the American Plastics Council to tell us the truth about plastic! Too much water under the bridge for that!
So, what can you do?
This is from the Environmental Working Group: http://www.ewg.org/node/21843?gclid=CLfay-6D6Y0CFQeSHgod0n4Irg
Avoid eating or drinking from polycarbonate plastics – used in such
products as hard plastic baby bottles, 5 gallon water cooler bottles,
hard plastic water bottles, plastic silverware, and Lexan products. You
can check for the type of plastic on the bottom of the bottle –
polycarbonate bottles may be labeled with recycling number 7 ("Other"
type of plastic) or may contain the letters "PC" below the recycling
symbol. Bisphenol A may leach out of these types of bottles into your
beverage or food. Alternatives include bottles and other materials made
from glass, stainless steel, or polypropylene bottles labeled number 5
on the bottom (translucent, not transparent).You can also switch to tempered glass baby bottles (Evenflo) (this is what my friend Elizabeth used- surprisingly light and felt like plastic) or disposable, polypropylene nursers (Avent VIA Nurser, Playtex Disposables Premium Nurser) OR BornFree that are made of Polyamide PA and glass bottles. The BornFree are like Dr. Browns with the gas vent. My friend Ellizabeth was also using the BornFree. They also have a sippy cup.
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