What’s All of this Bisphenol-A Buzz About Anyway?

If you’ve been following the news on BPA you’re probably sick of reading about it but I wanted to give you the latest news and also provide some helpful tips on things to avoid when making your purchases. The great news is that large corporations are beginning to ban products that contain BPA which means safer and healthier products on store shelves for the consumer.

Definition of Bisphenol-A otherwise known as BPA: Used to make transparent, hard plastic known as polycarbonate (#7), such as baby bottles and the lining of infant formula cans. Exposure may cause prostrate cancer, breast cancer, female infertility, endocrine disruption, and obesity.

Recently in the news Canada decided to label BPA as toxic and will ban BPA in baby bottles and is pushing infant formula companies to replace BPA in their packaging. This is a big step in forcing companies to stop using BPA all together. Nalgene and Playtex are two manufacturers who have announced a phaseout of BPA plastics. Big box retailers like Wal-Mart and Toys”R”Us will discontinue sales of these products which is a huge move!

EWG has done a great job asking federal agencies to fully assess the safety of children’s BPA exposures from formula, baby bottles and other sources. Thank goodness!

Tips on Avoiding BPA:

• Avoid plastics #3, 6, and 7 - these plastics often contain toxins that leach into food and water, especially when heated. Safe Mama provides cheat sheets and helpful information to parents needing a one-stop resource on avoiding toxins. For more resources check out Itsabelly’s Scoop on Plastics article.
• All plastics leach in the long term so it’s better to use glass or ceramic containers instead.
• Don’t use plastic water bottles - use stainless steel bottles like Klean Kanteen, SIGG, Thermos or Think Sport.
• Eat less canned foods. Studies show containers food and drink cans are lined with BPA.
• Purchase non-toxic baby bottles, sippy cups, children’s feeding utensils in glass or safer plastics including polyamine, polypropylene and polyethylene from sources like The Soft Landing. Note that soft or cloudy-colored plastic does not contain BPA.
• Medela - a breast feeding supply manufacturer produces BPA-free bottles which are used to pump and store expressed breast milk.

If you have other tips to share or know of some great resources please share!