Healthy Baby Bottle Guide

Many BPA-free plastics are just as bad for us as the ones that contain BPA, and and in some cases, are possibly worse, according to research by neurobiology professor George Bittner and his team at CertiChem.  The endocrine disruptors in most plastics have far-ranging effects that not only alter our gene makeup and increase infertility risks, they can also harm children.

Perhaps even more disturbing: companies are not required to determine their level of toxicity before releasing them for sale and marketing them as “safe and non-toxic.” Heat, oils, acidity, UV light (sunlight), and abrasion are all factors that increase the release of BPA and other toxic plastic ingredients such as phthalates into the food or environment around the plastic item. As in the case of baby bottles containing breast milk or formula, heat, oil, light and abrasion are the main factors that increase the release of toxic ingredients out of the plastic bottle and into the baby’s milk and mouth!

 

UV rays unlock hormone-disrupting chemicals

Ultraviolet rays (UV) activate and “unlock” hormone-mimicking chemicals in BPA-free bottles made out of polyester (PES) and Tritan, the materials most commonly used in BPA-free bottles. According to the research, some of the BPA-free products that were tested actually released synthetic estrogens that were more potent than BPA.

 

These brands of bottles showed estrogen-mimicking activity

According to researchers, all the following brands of BPA-free plastic bottles, baby bottles, sippy cups and water containers tested positive for estrogen-mimicking activity:

Baby bottles: AVENT, Born Free, Green to Grow, Evenflo, Weil Baby
Sippy cups: CamelBak (blue), Weil Baby
Water bottles: CamelBak (black), CamelBak (blue), Nalgene (blue)
Other products: Crate & Barrel acrylic wine glasses (red), Lock & Lock food containers

Interestingly, Nalgene green bottles made out of Tritan tested negative for estrogenic activity after exposure to UV rays, most likely due to the green dye acting as a kind of internal UV block. So if you’re looking for a plastic water bottle that’s available right now and shows no estrogenic activity, a green Nalgene bottle seems to be the way to go, based on this research.

 

Hormone-disrupting chemicals linked to cancer; multi-generational effects

What’s wrong with BPA and other hormone-disrupting chemicals? They’re linked to cancer, for starters. Even at extremely tiny doses — just parts per billion — they may cause infertility problems, liver abnormalities, asthma and heart disease, according to scientists.

Even worse, some of these effects appear to be epigenetic and trans-generational, meaning they pass from one generation to the next. So a young mother who feeds her baby with baby bottles containing hormone-disrupting chemicals is not merely potentially harming her own baby; she may be harming her baby’s future babies as well, down through at least 3 generations.

 

Here are some non-toxic alternatives and tips to consider:

1. Try to avoid plastic at all costs. Just because a plastic is touted as BPA- and phthalate-free does not mean it’s actually non-toxic and doesn’t mean that it does not release endocrine disrupting chemicals into the vulnerable baby!

2. If plastic can’t be avoided altogether, the safest type (meaning the most stable, slowest to degrade and leech chemicals into your water, food, etc.) is silicone.

3. Do not heat your plastic bottle in the microwave! Not only do microwaves increase the amount of plastic released into the milk/food, but they also destroy all living enzymes and nutrients. Moreover, microwaves do not heat the milk evenly and may potentially lead to overly hot milk for your baby.

4. Glass is the safest material since it does not leech at all.

5. Stainless steel is pretty good as it is a relatively inert metal, but there is some transfer of elements that can be an issue for people with allergies to nickel.

 

Find glass and stainless steel bottles with silicone nipples here:

http://www.theglassbabybottle.com/bpa-free/Baby-Bottles.shtml

http://www.5phases.com/plst.html

 

RESOURCES:

http://www.naturalnews.com/045585_BPA-free_baby_bottles_estrogen_mimickers.html#ixzz3EdAZQWLN

http://www.naturalnews.com/044551_BPA_toxic_chemicals_plastics.html#ixzz3EdAgdzya
http://www.newbornfree.com/products/bottles/glass-bottle-9-oz-3-pack-with-sleeve

http://www.theglassbabybottle.com/nontoxic/PRA-BABY11OZPURP.shtml

Tags: baby bottle, non-toxic, plastic

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