BPA – Will it ever go away?
March 11, 2009
As I’m sure many parents have been reading the past few months, BPA (Bisphenol A), has become a hot topic. It’s really sort of old news now. To sum up, BPA is a chemical found in lots of plastics and it’s bad. Research has shown that we absorb most of the BPA in our systems through food (canned, tupperware containers, bottles, etc.) Apparently BPA can hang around in your system for a long, long time and cause all sorts of scary problems. The Wikipedia Entry on BPA is actually quite informative.
The flurry of talk about BPA started sometime last year when the CDC initially decided that the levels of BPA we Americans were injesting was safe. About the same time, Canada decided to ban BPA from baby bottles. More studies were done, more debate and discussion ensued. In Connecticut and New Jersy Attorneys General asked the six biggest baby bottle manufactures to remove the chemical from baby bottles, and they agreed. So, we (the US) are finally moving the in the right direction when it comes to BPA and baby bottles.
At one of our first check-up appointments for Parker, I asked our pediatrician about BPA-free bottles. In his always relaxed manner, he said that the next time he is in the market for baby bottles, he will probably replace his current ones. That seemed like sound logic to me, so I started searching for BPA-free bottles in preparation of the day we would introduce a bottle to Parker. It turns out they aren’t easy to find in my area. I ended up ordering the Avent bottles from Amazon.
At first, I was little weirded out by the slightly honey-colored tint the bottles have, but according to Avent, that’s how BPA-free bottles look, and now I don’t even notice it. I think BPA-free bottles were the right choice for us, and I felt good about omitting this potentially hazardous chemical from my son’s meals. Then my husband asked me about pacifiers. We went through a lot of trouble to find BPA-free bottles, but what about things like pacifiers, teething rings and all those other things that Parker will eventually put into his mouth? I removed BPA from the most frequent plastic thing he puts into his mouth right now, but will that matter in a few months when I can’t control everything going into his mouth? Along those same lines, what about sippy cups? Xander has an extensive collection of sippy cups and I’m sure all of them contain BPA. Should we toss all of our sippy cups into the recycling bin and start over? Would it make a difference now or is it too late already? Amazon has some nice ones in stock, but it’s not cheap to start over…
So I continue to keep an eye on the news and the information about BPA. Does it make a difference that we hand wash Parker’s bottles, and that he drinks formula cold, so his bottles never get to a temperature that should be high enough for the BPA to “leach” through? What do you think? Should I be the mom who eliminates all plastic toys from my house, and buys only wooden, lead free paint toys? Or should I continue on the “wait and see” path, and assume (hope) that the steps we’ve taken so far are enough to keep our children healthy?
I’ve had a few months to use and form opinions on a large number baby products. One of the most important items in a new baby’s home is a diaper bag. There are a zillion and one different diaper bags to choose from, so how do new parents find the right bag? And, what do you put into that bag once you’ve found the one for you?
