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Baby Bottle Brouhaha
I recently came across an article that might be of interest to expectant parents as well as moms and dads of babies still drinking out of bottles. Of course, probably everybody but me heeds the warning about not heating up milk in the bottle. But I had always thought that warning was to prevent you from scalding your kid's mouth, not because of the potential for the bottle to leach toxic chemicals. So out the sake of convenience, I often popped the very microwaveable-looking bottle into the microwave and tested the milk to make sure it was nice and warm before handing it over. 
According to a study by Environment California released several months ago, five popular brands of baby bottles were tested and all leached bisphenol A, a toxic chemical that has been found to have caused harm in laboratory animals. Not only is heating the bottle not recommended, but apparently the advocacy group also warns against washing plastic dishware with hot water, which could allow chemicals to leach out of the plastic.
So now, apparently, glass baby bottles are making a comeback. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported last month, there has been a recent increase in the demand for glass baby bottles. Evenflo, one of a handful of glass bottle manufacturers, maintains the polycarbonate bottles it makes are safe. Avent, another popular maker of baby bottles, also says that extensive studies have shown that the levels of BPA used in consumer products does not pose a risk. You can read their statement here.
Even though the rational side of me figures that the bottles are perfectly fine (why would they be on the shelf if not), I threw away all my plastic bottles. Not only did this study make me nervous, but I figured it was time. (I blogged earlier about my son's insistence on drinking milk from a bottle despite the fact he is ALMOST TWO YEARS OLD.)
What do you think? Is this an alarmist study or are you going to buy glass bottles?
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Comments
Plastic is nefarious! These reports have been around for some time now, I'm surprised it's taken until now to get in this blog.
Glass bottles are the way to go, not to mention the are much better for the environment. But we wouldn't want to teach our children to be good caretakers of our planet, now would we???
Posted by: DadofTwo | May 21, 2007 12:21 PM