What You Need To Know About Dangerous Baby Plastics

Attention shoppers: Now on sale, baby bottles made of possibly toxic plastic.

Such offers come as the tide seems to be turning even further against polycarbonate, the plastic often used in brand-name baby bottles.
But even as opposition grows to Bisphenol-A, the chemical that leaches out of these plastics and that can cause hormonal and neurological changes in small bodies, the baby industry continues to make polycarbonate bottles and mainstream retailers continue to sell them, sometimes very cheaply.

I wrote about this topic weeks ago for MainStreet  that a panel organized by the NIH's National Toxicology Program has expressed "some concern" that even low levels of BPA can cause harm to fetuses, infants and children. The panel released its report after a long and controversial examination of existing studies on BPA. This is the first time a government agency has acknowledged a problem with BPA. Last July the FDA wrote a letter to Fit Pregnancy magazine reiterating its stance that the chemical is safe.

Meanwhile, a Canadian newspaper has reported that its government is expected to officially declare BPA a "toxic" substance.

This follows a report that came out at the start of the year in USA Today and other newspapers that polycarbonate bottles release BPA far more rapidly after they are exposed to heat (say from the superheated water in a dishwasher, or too hot formula).

It's getting harder for the plastics industry to keep insisting that there is no good reason to start phasing out polycarbonate in favor of safer plastics. The baby goods industry -- more sensitive to pubic outcry than some others -- has clearly gotten to the point where it can't ignore the controversy.