Plastic Bottles

There appears to be mounting evidence that plastic baby bottles, when heated, may leach a chemical that might eventually lead to breast and prostate cancer, diabetes and obesity.

This chemical is called Bisphenol or BPA for short. Research on plastic baby bottles, food storage containers, reusable water bottles, toys, baby teethers and pacifiers reveal that all of these products contain the polycarbonate, BPA. It is also used to make epoxy resins that are used to coat the inside of metal food cans and dental sealants. The chemicals DEHA and DEHP may also leach from clear plastic baby bottles.

If the plastic baby bottle, among others, does leach BPA into the human body, there it mimics the female hormones and affects the gene patterns in the prostate during development, and in doing so promotes prostate disease with ageing.

These are the findings in studies using laboratory rats, and applications in human prostate disease will await further studies, says the University of Cincinnati.

Of course, parents are concerned with even the suggestion of a link to plastic baby bottles and cancer. Many parents are switching to glass bottles now, taking the “better safe than sorry” attitude. Who can blame them?

Glass vs. plastic baby bottles? It is true that parents are sacrificing some convenience when switching to glass baby bottles. Plastic bottles are shatterproof, so baby flinging them against the wall or the bottle being dropped does not pose an immediate safety threat or major cleanup. Baby’s hands exploring a broken glass baby bottle is too nerve-wracking to even think about. Parents can reuse plastic baby bottles for long stretches of time. Plastic is lighter and more easily transported, forgiving of the knocking around a bottle sustains in the sink, dishwasher and in everyday life.

There are so many worries a parent has when contemplating their innocent little baby. Thinking about all the threats in the outside world is enough to cause many a sleepless night. There is no reason to list all of the major dangers in this modern world, parents have thought and worried about them all, and then some. Parents attempt, very passionately, to make a safe and happy environment in the household, the one space in this world where parents have a modicum of decision and control.

So, when rumors or reports or a troubling article on the internet catch their attention regarding possible danger and threats regarding something that they themselves brought into baby’s world, a wholesale change can understandably take place.

Regarding baby bottles possibly made with dioxins, endocrine disruptors, and future cancer possibilities, today some parents are making the switch and will worry about science later on.