Month: February 2008

It has not even been two years since Young C was born and I can already say, “We just didn’t know any better back then.” Joining the ranks of baby walkers and stomach sleeping and front seat car rides is the seemingly harmless plastic baby bottle. It looks like my mother is not a raving lunatic after all; there really are toxins seeping out of plastics and into our food stuffs. I now have to undo the straight jacket and take stock of my cupboards. Not all plastics are equal, and it is the recycling # 7 plastics (and #3 and #6 — thanks Safe Mama) that are all over the cyber news because they leach bisphenol-A (BPA).

I know, I know: bi what?!?thehell-A? This is a chemical that acts like estrogen and has recently come under attack for interfering with the endocrine system and having a causal connection to a host of ailments from cancer to embryonic development. The plastic industry has long contended that it is completely harmless at the low levels found in canned food and bottled beverages. I have read, although I don’t completely get it, that this chemical is actually more toxic at lower levels. There have been several recent studies linking very low levels (much lower than the levels used in the studies cited by the plastic industry) of BPA to chromosomal abnormalities in mice. As the plastic industry is quick to point out, there is no conclusive proof that similar exposures would be toxic to humans. Here is a good introduction to the issue.

I first caught wind of this potential health hazard about a year ago via oh-my-god-they’re-hurting-our-babies type posts on mommy blogs. I was sort of caught between a rock (big bad corporate America) and a hard place (internet conspiracy theorists), and thus did nothing. I wasn’t the only one. Since then, the toxicity of BPA has received some mainstream media attention and the movement to get it outright banned seems to be picking up steam. Consumer awareness is picking up, too, as evidenced by aluminum re-usable water bottles and stainless steel sippy cups hitting the market.

In typical Playground fashion, then, I urge you to, y’know, avoid the poisonous plastics when you can. If it’s convenient. And here again mommy blogs are leading the way. Baby bottles are probably the worst source of BPA for two reasons. The amount of the chemical released increases with repeated washing and re-heating, for one. Secondly, they feed babies who are the most susceptible to chemical exposure in general, and to the potential chromosome-altering and developmentally-stunting effects of BPA in particular. A vast amount of research is required to learn about the dangers of BPA and then find out which products to avoid. Couple that with the energy and dedication and expense involved in making the necessary lifestyle changes, and we have a very good argument for legislation banning the chemical. I’m not going to lead the charge because I simply don’t have the science to weigh the arguments fairly. Still, there appears to be enough evidence to make this social libertarian (I argued against banning smoking in cars with kids) support the cause. Personal freedoms, you see, are altogether different from corporate freedoms.

But what about Young C, you ask. The fortuitous confluence of my distaste for expressing breast milk, exclusive breastfeeding for his first year, my pressing need for (and thus lack of) a dishwasher, and my own mother’s insistence that any reheating of expressed milk be done by slow emergence in tepid tap water make it unlikely that he has been exposed to very much of BPA. He only used a pacifier (another toxic baby gadget) between the ages of 3 weeks and 3 months and has always drunk water, juice, and homo milk from a cup. So, despite my Avent breast pump and plastic baby bottles being among the worst BPA offenders, we got off relatively scot-free. The Gerber sippy cup Colum has worn to shreds and the Ikea bowls and tumblers we have are a safer plastic, but the word is still out on the dinner plate he’s been using. Link here for reviews of BPA-free sippy cups. Here‘s another good source for info on safe baby products. And this link is invaluable for learning which brands of baby bottles and toddler gear are safe, and which to avoid.

Lastly, and this may be my mother talking, let’s just be careful with all plastics. Don’t use them to reheat food. Try to avoid all recycling # 7 (and #3 and #6) plastics for food and beverage use. And, if you’re buying something new, look into stainless steel or glass. This is a multi-faceted topic, so please, dear readers (I know I have a couple), post a comment or question and we can get a discussion going.

(Image taken from A Day in the Life of a Four Year Old.)