I was excited to read this, as it is a constant worry as a new parent to keep your baby happy and healthy, and to be told that baby bottles are toxic is scary! Imagine trying to find your way through the unfamiliar maze of a baby-mega-store, holding a squirming infant that you are just getting to know, and are trying to navigate through the baby bottle aisle to determine the toxic from the non-toxic bottles.
Well, new parents can soon stop navigating through toxic vs. non-toxic bottles, as the six major brands of baby bottle manufacturers (including Playtex, Evenflo, Dr. Brown, Gerber and First Years) are NO LONGER SELLING THE BABY BOTTLES CONTAINING BPA (bisphenol A) to the U.S. To read more about the harmful effects of BPA, here are some discussions on EmpowHer within the past year:
- Are Plastics Harmful to Our Health?
- Jury Still Out on Safety of Baby Bottles
- Plastic Chemical Tied to Heart Disease and Diabetes
- Bottle-water Plastics and Breast Cancer
- What Numbers to Look For When Buying Water Bottles?
- Sippy Cups and BPA: Which are Safe?
Since the FDA has not yet banned the use of BPA in baby bottles (it is still used in many other plastics, however, and these bottles will be marketed to other countries), these companies are making an important first step in the right direction by volunteering (or, perhaps "succumbing to consumer and political pressure" would be more accurate?) to stop using this toxic chemical that is being used in baby bottles. Beware, that BPA can still be found in the lining of formula cans, as well as other plastics, and there may be baby bottles sitting on shelves that contain BPA. It might not be a bad idea to call your local store to ask if they have removed the BPA-containing bottles from their shelves, in place of manufacturers BPA-free bottles. And if not now, then when?
Some of this pressure has come from the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act, that "is establishing a safety standard for each chemical on the market, and would shift the burden for proving chemicals are safe from EPA to the chemical manufacturers." A bill was also introduced to Congress within this year to restrict bisphenol A in all children’s products.