BPA—Bisphenol A

Me Worry? Should I be worried about the recent attention bispenol A has received in the media? Only if I am the chemist who is manufacturing it. Or, if I am selling products that contain it. I am not overly concerned, but I am a bit irritated.

First off, if you do not know what BPA is, there is a good chance that you do not have young children. In that case, it is a common plastic additive typically found in baby bottles like Avent and canned food liners. Apparently, it is the not-so-secret ingredient that gives us the clear, hard break resistant plastic known as polycarbonate. Studies, that I have not read, report that BPA can leech from polycarbonate bottles into whatever liquid it contains. This appears especially true after the bottle heats up in, say, a dishwasher or bottle sterilizer. Since BPA acts as hormone blocker and has estrogen-like properties it can cause cancer and early onset of puberty (at least in lab rats and probably only in California).

WHAT!! Wait a BPA second. I already do not want my daughter to date anyone before she turns 30. Now I have to worry about her starting puberty when she is six. Think of the possibilities…her 1 in 4 chance of getting an STD at the age of 14 has moved to the age of 8 or 9. I am reasonably certain that my parenting skills will prevent this from happening, but come on. And what about my son? When will he have to start wearing a manzier? I can only imagine the torment that he will receive.

My trombone playing colleague suggests that I worry too much, implying that perhaps my worry will lead to some future health problem. I disagree. Yes, I am concerned, but I am not losing sleep over this. When something such as BPA comes my way it acts much like a hotel wakeup call.
I could choose to answer the call and go back to sleep, thinking about how my parents once held seemingly innocuous mercury in their hands, or I can get up and change. I choose change.

My daughter has been drinking milk out of her BPA laden bottles for over a year, so I did not rush right out looking for a healthier plastic. I took time to examine the options that Amazon presented to me. For whatever reason, I stuck with plastic. I guess because I am not real worried. Some parents will choose not to change. That’s fine. I’d just rather not take the risk.

In the end, I purchased two different brands of BPA free bottles. One was a bit more expensive than the other, but both are apparently safe. Born Free is costlier and has a close resemblance to Avent. Sassy has its own unique look, but is considerably cheaper. Or, if you are not afraid of broken glass there are these chic bottles from Momo Baby.