Green Options

If you haven’t tried the BPA-free baby bottles from Dr. Weil yet, you might be able to score some free samples. Apply for the Weil Baby Healthy Inspirations House Party. If you haven’t heard about House Party yet, it’s the newest way to get sneak previews and free stuff by hosting parties with your friends at home.

After a year-long review of studies regarding bisphenol-A, Massachusetts warned parents to avoid storing breastmilk or formula in containers that contain the endocrine disruptor. Officials also urged pregnant and breastfeeding women to also avoid food contact materials made with the chemical.

Suzanne Condon, director of the state Bureau of Environmental Health, said this in the absence of any federal action on the chemical:

We are concerned about this enough that we want to warn the public. It just seemed it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to sit back and not do anything.

The FDA has yet to change their policy on the chemical in food contact materials. Instead, there has been enough demand from consumers that BPA has been removed from many brands of baby bottles and sippy cups. Also, some states and municipalities have banned BPA, so it’d be pretty tough for manufacturers to regionally offer products with different chemical compositions.

Here are the places where BPA has been banned:

A new Health Canada study found that bottles marketed as “BPA-free” actually leach the hormone-disrupting chemical into liquids.

The study says that these bottles contain “trace amounts”, but some sources cite an internal memo, which says that two brands contain “high doses”.

For their part, bottle manufacturers claim that the study must have been performed wrong.

Recent concern and awareness of the hazards of polycarbonate plastic baby bottles has resulted in many companies looking to produce safer alternatives. Many experts recommend glass for the most safe and eco friendly bottle, but anyone who has ever had children knows how babies love to throw things onto the floor. Obviously, for this reason glass bottles don’t seem like such a good idea.

The makers of babylife wee*go bottles must have had this in mind when they developed their product.  Their glass bottles are protected by a colorful silicone sleeve that can be boiled or put into the dishwasher along with the bottle itself.  The nipple that is included with the bottle is latex-free, and the recyclable plug and cap contain absolutely no polycarbonate.

This week from our friends at ZapRoot: The FDA needs to have their heads examined. We respond to the numerous Chinese comments. Explore the world through Google Earth’s Environment section.

This week’s show links:

Eco Child’s Play - CA Fails to Pass Chemical Ban in Baby Products
Eat Drink Better - FDA Allows Producers to Irradiate Spinach & Lettuce
BPA Opinions
Corn Syrup All Natural
Google Earth Environment

Everyone agrees breast milk is best for your baby. If you do bottle feed, you probably know that glass bottles are regarded as the most ecologically sound and healthful choice. But they are heavy, unwieldy, and can be easily chipped or broken. That leaves plastic.

There is strong evidence to suggest that bisphenol A (BPA), which is used to make polycarbonate plastic, can leach into the baby’s drink and mimic estrogen, which in turn can disrupt a baby’s developing endocrine system. Just last week, the FDA decided to (finally) re-evaluate their position on whether or not BPA is safe (though they weakly stopped short of recommending people stop using plastic bottles made with BPA). Canada just recently proposed designating BPA a toxic substance, banning products made with BPA altogether.

Enter Adiri baby bottles, which have received several design awards lately, as well as high praise of mothers everywhere. “We are enjoying our popularity with moms as well as with the medical community,” said Sarah Eisner, Adiri’s Director of Sales and Marketing. “We started out with safe materials. From there we introduced a revolutionary new breast-like design that is wowing folks across the country.”

Obviously, breastfed babies are happiest and healthiest; however, sometimes families have to use infant formulas to nourish their young ones. A new report issued by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) makes recommendations for feeding babies safely and avoiding Bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA is a hormone disruptor that can harm brain development and may affect behavior. Many families have switched to BPA-free bottles and sippy cups; however, infant formula containers pose a higher risk to children than baby bottles when it comes to BPA leaching.

Back in October, I wrote about the risk of BPA leaching into food and infant formula stored in tin/steel cans. Steel cans are lined with plastic containing BPA to prevent contamination from the can to the food/formula. EWG found that,

1 out of every 16 infants fed ready-to-eat liquid formula are exposed to BPA at doses exceeding those that caused increased aggression and significant changes in testosterone levels in laboratory animals.