OK, it seems I’ve really been asleep at the wheel for the past few months or so. The drama around this compound, BPA, found in plastics all around us – and the possible dangers it poses to infants in the womb, infants, toddlers, and well, all of us, really managed to escape me entirely until I settled into the front page story of yesterday’s Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/26/AR2008042602126.html
How did I miss all of this? Was I really so busy day dreaming about spring fashion and why Pamela Anderson was a guest at Saturday’s White House Correspondent’s Dinner? What might she have to talk about with any member of the Administration? Or Heidi Montag? Why was she there? Why is she even famous?
Anyhoo, I digress. In case you’ve been hibernating in a cave all winter, right along with me, most of you likely already know that BPA is a synthetic sex hormone that mimics estrogen and it is used in plastics to help keep the plastic hard. BPA is widespread, is found in 95% of Americans tested and it is linked with diabetes, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and early onset of puberty in little girls, among other not-great things. It seems that BPA is found in 95% of baby bottles that were tested and it leaches from the bottle when it’s warm. It is also found in toddler sippy cups, in the lining of canned foods, in canned baby formula, I mean the list is long and scary.
As someone who works in public affairs in Washington, I can be skeptical of sudden scary findings like this, but I will admitt that the Post’s analysis yesterday pointed out that the ONLY studies that did not find harm in BPA were the two studies funded by the Plastics Industry. Again, I try to avoid the sky is falling kind of thinking – I am sure I still have plenty of Chinese-made lead-laden toys lurking around my DD’s playroom that she chewed on for months – but this particular scare has really struck a chord with me and motivated me to make some changes in the house hold.
We don’t have a baby or bottles to deal with, too late on that one, but we do have sippy cups and our own Nalgene bottles to get rid of. So, here is a link to a site that gives you credible information on which bottles and sippy cups are safe:
http://safemama.com/2007/11/22/bpa-free-bottle-and-sippy-cup-cheat-sheet/
Being an action-oriented kind of gal, I also found this site where you can sign a petition that is being sent to manufacturers of baby bottles to demand they remove BPA from baby bottles:
http://www.chej.org/BPA_Website.htm
And finally, just in case your child LOVES Popsicles as much as mine does, here’s a link to learn more about making Popsicles at home that are BPA Free (it’s easy, it’s called shopping at Crate & Barrel):
http://greenmomfinds.com/2008/04/28/popscicles-sans-bpa/
Go forth kittens….and live a BPA free live.
Great! Now if we could only get rid of car pollution – something we already know with absolute certainty is responsible for all sorts of serious health issues – particularly in children. Any thoughts or insights to rid us of this evil? I mean how dare the auto industry continue to expose us to this chemical brew!