Is Bisphenol A Safe in Baby Bottles?
Posted on Thursday, December 25th, 2008 and is filed under Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Is Bisphenol A, a chemical more commonly referred to as BPA, safe to use in baby bottles? This question has been haunting parents as of late. Some say yes and others disagree. But, before we discuss that further, first lets define what BPA is and where it is most commonly used.
BPA is a polymer, basically it is a foundation chemical block that is used in the creation of poly carbonates: plastics and resins. It has been in use since the 1930s and is widely used in many safety products, such as helmets, automobile bumpers and countless of other safety devices, as well as in commonly used baby products. BPA is not only found in plastic baby bottles, but it is also used in making pacifiers, sippy cups, plates and other infant accessories.
There have been extensive tests conducted for more than four decades and they seem to defer in conclusion. Some say there are no proven risk factors, while others claim the opposite. Recent studies conducted have defined possible risks of BPA leaching into infant’s formula from baby bottles through the heating process. These studies have also compiled data stating that there are possible health risks and that rats exposed to BPA did exhibit deformities and malformations.
Recent studies performed by the FDA state that there are no health risks and that it is safe to use baby bottles that contain BPA. Yet, Canada and other countries have already removed BPA containing bottles from their shelves and calling for a ban on its future use in baby products.
The question then to parents should be, is it worth it? Is it worth any possibility of risk when it comes to the health of your child? Currently, the experts and the FDA disagree, in this circumstance, it would appear that the old adage, “better to be safe than sorry” holds true now more than ever. Glass bottles are unquestionably the safest way to go when it comes to the health of your child.
BPA is an incredible discovery and a total ban would be devastating to the safety value of many products that we all use in our everyday lives. The use of BPA in helmets, safety pads, automobile safety equipment, and many other products are a great achievement and advancement in human safety, but the line needs to be drawn when it comes to using it in products that are to be used on children.
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