Anyone here not concerned about BPA?

It seems to be coming up more and more. The last time I did any research on it, it was debatable if it caused any harm.

 

What is BPA?

 

QUOTE(MichelleL @ Feb 10 2008, 09:36 PM) [snapback]615626[/snapback]
What is BPA?


I was going to ask same question lol

 

Bisphenol A, a chemical that's in plastic. Some studies claim it can be leached from things like baby bottles during heating and cause harmful side effects. Plastic companies and the FDA say it's safe.

 

Oh okay, I didn't realize it had an abbreviation sorry about that. I honestly haven't done research on it.

 

Are you f'ing kidding me?!?! I am finally ALMOST getting my girls to even take bottles, after trying a few diff types, and the one I have the least resistance with (dr.browns) is on the list!!!

ugh

 

Im honetsly not that worried about it right now. My mom used them with all 3 of us, ive used them with all four of mine, my grandmother used plastic bottles with my mom. And well guess what we are all still alive and healthy.

It seems like anything and everything is becoming harmful nowadays.

 

I'm not that worried about it either, it seems like there is so much hype out there about what we can't or shouldn't be doing. Honestly, there are so many "toxins" out there that we are exposed to everyday, and like a pp said, it hasn't even been shown that it causes any harm.

 

I've done very little research, but one thing that I did note was that the temps that caused the BPA to leach from the plastic were very high...If I remember right, over 100 degrees. Obviously you'd never heat formula or BM that high. I'm not worried about it with bottles, but I do pay attention to heating cheaper plastics in food containers.

 

I have more imporatnt things to worry about. I am not dead and none of you are. Relax.

 

QUOTE(cohlee @ Feb 10 2008, 06:45 PM) [snapback]615639[/snapback]
Are you f'ing kidding me?!?! I am finally ALMOST getting my girls to even take bottles, after trying a few diff types, and the one I have the least resistance with (dr.browns) is on the list!!!

ugh


Dr. Browns is the only thing that worked for us too...


QUOTE(xavier2001 @ Feb 10 2008, 07:39 PM) [snapback]615710[/snapback]
I'm not that worried about it either, it seems like there is so much hype out there about what we can't or shouldn't be doing. Honestly, there are so many "toxins" out there that we are exposed to everyday, and like a pp said, it hasn't even been shown that it causes any harm.

I couldn't agree more


QUOTE(LV twinmama @ Feb 10 2008, 09:44 PM) [snapback]615799[/snapback]
I have more imporatnt things to worry about. I am not dead and none of you are. Relax.

:rotflmbo:

 

A little concerned after reading up on it. Not our mom's bottles...things have changed. I don't worry too much because my girls don't take bottles but after reading all the current and new research I would definitely only use the safe ones. Plus, it's in a lot more than baby bottles. Ugh!

QUOTE
I have more imporatnt things to worry about. I am not dead and none of you are. Relax.


It is known to cause fertility problems more than anything...cancer secondary.

 

My boys have been using those bottles since Oct. 11th. I feel like they've already gotten the "toxin" and we don't have enough money to throw out all of our bottles and replace them. If Avent/Playtex and First Years are willing to reimburse me, I'll switch. Financially it's not an option for us. I also think there is a ton of hype. It's supposedly in the container that holds their powdered formula too. All the research has been done on mice, and I'm not sure that's enough to convince me that my boys will be sterile.

Great topic!

 

"Are you f'ing kidding me?!?! I am finally ALMOST getting my girls to even take bottles, after trying a few diff types, and the one I have the least resistance with (dr.browns) is on the list!!!"same here

It does scare me though but I just make sure to wash the bottles by hand and now I'm heating the formula up in a glass and then pouring it in the bottle

Erica

 

sorry did that quote thing wrong.......still new at this

erica

 

just read this:





BPA, a synthetic sex hormone that mimics estrogen, is used to make hard polycarbonate plastic. Ninety-five percent of all baby bottles on the market are made with bisphenol A. The results of the U.S. study show that, when new bottles are heated, those manufactured by Avent, Evenflo, Dr. Brown’s and Disney/First Years leached between 4.7 – 8.3 parts per billion of bisphenol A. Recent research on animals shows that bisphenol A can be harmful by disrupting development at doses below these levels.
http://www.chej.org/documents/BabysToxicBottleFinal.pdf

 

QUOTE(dizzyhay+2 @ Feb 10 2008, 08:46 PM) [snapback]615641[/snapback]
Im honetsly not that worried about it right now. My mom used them with all 3 of us, ive used them with all four of mine, my grandmother used plastic bottles with my mom. And well guess what we are all still alive and healthy.

It seems like anything and everything is becoming harmful nowadays.



My thoughts exactly. I just watched a segment on GMA about how diet soda's are bad for you....it seems like if you do enough research you can find bad info. about everything...

 

:mellow: I'm almost past the "bottle" stage but BPA is in lots of plastics and really there's not much way around that. I was just careful not to get the bottles too hot and I hand washed (in lieu of sterilizing or dishwasher).

Everything nowadays is bad for you...I'm trying not to be concerned about phthlates at the moment! :mellow:

 

Here's the thing -- research has shown that it *could* be harmful, which doesn't mean that everyone will be affected, of course.

I don't expect BPA to kill them. But, if by chance my kids have fertility problems when they're older, and it is linked to elevated BPA levels -- how big an arse will I feel like, because I didn't "believe the hype" and switch to bottles that were BPA-free?

So, I use the cheap Gerber BPA-free ones. It's totally worth the extra $20 to me.

ETA -- someone mentioned that everything is bad for us these days -- artificial sweeteners in diet sodas, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, etc. So true! It can make you crazy. The difference is, I'm not feeding my babies any of these things -- what I choose to ingest as an adult is very different than giving it to my children....

 

QUOTE(Becca34 @ Feb 11 2008, 10:11 AM) [snapback]615974[/snapback]
ETA -- someone mentioned that everything is bad for us these days -- artificial sweeteners in diet sodas, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, etc. So true! It can make you crazy. The difference is, I'm not feeding my babies any of these things -- what I choose to ingest as an adult is very different than giving it to my children....

I think that was me, and I meant that to be facetious. I am very conscious of what I put in my children...and I'm much more concerned/conscientious of what they eat, drink, etc than for myself.

 

QUOTE(Becca34 @ Feb 11 2008, 09:11 AM) [snapback]615974[/snapback]
I don't expect BPA to kill them. But, if by chance my kids have fertility problems when they're older, and it is linked to elevated BPA levels -- how big an arse will I feel like, because I didn't "believe the hype" and switch to bottles that were BPA-free?



Exactly! Plus, it *used* to be hype. Recent research proves a lot more. AND, almost all research is done on mice...if you use that logic you shouldn't have chemo if you have cancer because all of those tests were first done on mice.

 

Sorry, but an unpublished non-peer reviewed paper doesn't do it for me.
I usually look to PUBMED for health related info. Here is one of three that came up when I looked for articles with "BPA baby bottle" in them. The other two did not fit what we are looking for.

Dietary exposure assessment of infants to bisphenol A from the use of polycarbonate baby milk bottles.Onn Wong K, Woon Leo L, Leng Seah H.
Food Control Division, Food and Veterinary Administration, Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, Singapore. [email protected]


I think it is probably a bunch of hype. To be safe I have been hand washing my Avent bottles. Plus my boys only get a few bottles a week.

It's another thing to worry about. Argh.
Mj

 

I am not concerned about it. I have enough to worry about I guess. I use Dr. Brown's bottles what our NICU started us on and I guess I'm going with it. I have never even googled BPA etc.. And I am a google freak! I'm not worried, I may be one of the few but.. just doesn't bug me (which is shocking, trust me..) Plus, my Dad is a Doctor and Mother is a Nurse and they aren't worried about it.

 

QUOTE(snoopytwins @ Feb 11 2008, 09:56 AM) [snapback]616073[/snapback]
I think that was me, and I meant that to be facetious. I am very conscious of what I put in my children...and I'm much more concerned/conscientious of what they eat, drink, etc than for myself.


Sorry, I totally didn't mean to imply that you weren't careful -- I just meant that there *is* always another report of something being bad for us, and I take most of it in stride -- but I tend toward the "better safe than sorry" for my kids, while I lean toward "eh, it's probably just hype" for myself. LOL!

 

QUOTE(kendall22 @ Feb 10 2008, 08:53 PM) [snapback]615730[/snapback]
I've done very little research, but one thing that I did note was that the temps that caused the BPA to leach from the plastic were very high...If I remember right, over 100 degrees. Obviously you'd never heat formula or BM that high. I'm not worried about it with bottles, but I do pay attention to heating cheaper plastics in food containers.

Exactly. You have to heat the contents of the bottle to boiling temp and hold them there for an hour I think to get the same results as the study that says they're harmful. How many of us do that? I don't think it's that big of a concern honestly.

But they do sell glass bottles, and any bottles that are made of bendable or opaque plastic are safe. If you have a hard plastic bottle and it's scratched (on the inside) or cracked, it's best to toss them out. The scratches can cause more BPA to leach into the liquid and it's best to toss out any cracked bottles since a small piece can break off.

 

not conerned here either... I wash the bottles by hand in very hot water and we use drop ins. Yes i agree there is alwasy something to worry about...

 

QUOTE(Her Royal Jennyness @ Feb 11 2008, 04:46 PM) [snapback]616274[/snapback]
Exactly. You have to heat the contents of the bottle to boiling temp and hold them there for an hour I think to get the same results as the study that says they're harmful.


I guess that's where my question lies, since we never boiled anything in the bottles or put anything that was boiling into them either. If it's the contents that have to be heated to 100 degrees and held there for an hour, does dishwashing cause the BPA to leach out? Have there been studies done that simulate putting the bottles in the dishwasher? --P.

 

QUOTE(girls! @ Feb 11 2008, 01:42 AM) [snapback]615818[/snapback]
It is known to cause fertility problems more than anything...cancer secondary.


How? If they've only started putting this stuff in plastics recently, and not in our parents time, (fwiw, I had fertility problems and never took a bottle as a baby) how would they even know? Are young children trying to get pregnant?

Its just typical media-driven hysteria--much ado about nothing.

 

QUOTE(Becca34 @ Feb 11 2008, 12:25 PM) [snapback]616229[/snapback]
Sorry, I totally didn't mean to imply that you weren't careful -- I just meant that there *is* always another report of something being bad for us, and I take most of it in stride -- but I tend toward the "better safe than sorry" for my kids, while I lean toward "eh, it's probably just hype" for myself. LOL!

Oh no...I didn't take it that way...just wanted to clarify. I feel the same way...what I do to me is what I do to me vs. the boys.

 

QUOTE(LilBrwnBrd @ Feb 11 2008, 09:57 AM) [snapback]616288[/snapback]
I guess that's where my question lies, since we never boiled anything in the bottles or put anything that was boiling into them either. If it's the contents that have to be heated to 100 degrees and held there for an hour, does dishwashing cause the BPA to leach out? Have there been studies done that simulate putting the bottles in the dishwasher? --P.

Putting them in the dishwasher does cause the BPA to leach out.... into the dishwater where it is sent down the drain.

A lot of things have BPA in them too. CDs and CD cases, sunglasses, or anything else that is made of hard clear plastic.

 

QUOTE(ladybenz @ Feb 11 2008, 11:57 AM) [snapback]616289[/snapback]
How? If they've only started putting this stuff in plastics recently, and not in our parents time, (fwiw, I had fertility problems and never took a bottle as a baby) how would they even know? Are young children trying to get pregnant?

Its just typical media-driven hysteria--much ado about nothing.



Well, I'm not a scientist and I don't study these issues too much but I think the way they go about establishing these conclusions is by studying the effects on animals and then making assumptions for humans. The study says that it causes an increase in ________ hormone and that hormone at increased levels will cause fertility problems later. I don't think BPA causes ALL fertility problems and I'm sure that there are plenty of people who have fertility issues that were not caused by baby bottles. Of course babies are not trying to get pregnant. I am not trying to be argumentative. I didn't know if you were really asking these questions or if you were making a point. I don't know exactly how scientists figure all of this out...but I don't think there is some media conspiracy to make us all freak out about baby bottles. I think there is actual evidence and that the warning to be cautious about temperatures in certain kinds of plastic is just that...a warning to be cautious. I am not throwing away baby bottles but I'm not washing them in the dishwasher either. I agree there is always something to worry about and I don't think there is any reason to get hysterical over this issue...for me I just use the information to make adjustments to my normal practices. I used to boil or dishwasher - now I hand wash.

When I was pregnant with my DS (15 years ago) there was a "much ado about nothing" feeling about taking extra folic acid. Reports suggested that it would help prevent birth defects. Some people said that was hype and that there was "always some new pregnancy rule". Turns out it was absolutely correct and those studies and the miracle of scientific research HAS in fact prevented birth defects simply by adding more folic acid during and before pregnancy.

So, while I don't think we should all freak out and take extreme measures every time there is a new study - I do think information is helpful and we can use our "mommy filters" to determine how we use that information.

I don't think there should be any judgment passed on mothers who decide to take the precautions recommended - we are not hysterical. I also don't think there needs to be judgment passed on mothers who think the information is false. It's simply a personal choice.

 

All cans are lined with stuff. There is no escaping it. And for those nursing, do you know that you are NOT excreting it since you are surely getting it in your body from canned foods, beverages, etc.

Does someone have a link to the abstract for the study that all this hype is referring to? Surely it wasn't published in JAMA or NEJM.

 

Honestly, I don't know how I feel about this. I did my own quick research and I felt scared, resentful, guilty, upset, worried to death, etc. etc. etc.

Seems like all I do now is WORRY...and worse...NOT ENJOYING MY KIDS WHO WILL BE TODDLERS SOON. I worry about their health, not being able to breastfeed, vaccinations and autism, not being able to give them organic food, anthrax, weapons of mass destruction, the greenhouse effect, and now BPA.

As I am typing this and searching the internet on BPA my kids are playing alone and looking at me with pleading eyes wanting my attention. How pathetic is that.

Maybe after I get all these feelings sorted out, I will post again soon. But for now, excuse me while I hug my kids.

 

http://www.chej.org/documents/BabysToxicBottleFinal.pdf

here is a article

 

QUOTE(Marie_B @ Feb 11 2008, 08:51 PM) [snapback]616691[/snapback]
Honestly, I don't know how I feel about this. I did my own quick research and I felt scared, resentful, guilty, upset, worried to death, etc. etc. etc.

Seems like all I do now is WORRY...and worse...NOT ENJOYING MY KIDS WHO WILL BE TODDLERS SOON. I worry about their health, not being able to breastfeed, vaccinations and autism, not being able to give them organic food, anthrax, weapons of mass destruction, the greenhouse effect, and now BPA.

As I am typing this and searching the internet on BPA my kids are playing alone and looking at me with pleading eyes wanting my attention. How pathetic is that.

Maybe after I get all these feelings sorted out, I will post again soon. But for now, excuse me while I hug my kids.


Aw man, that just made me sad! Its unbelievable how EVERYTHING scares me now that I'm a mom. I stress about things that I never worried about before. You aren't alone!

About the BPA ... we are about 2 months away from the end of bottles, so I'm not switching from my Dr Browns. My understand, as someone else said, is that BPA is in all types of plastics. Including their sippy cups, bowls, etc. So although we can protect them by switching bottles, as they get older, you can't protect them from everything. I think as long as you follow the guidelines about heating them up, and cracked bottles, etc. You will be fine. And if you prefer to buy different bottles, go for it. To each their own.