Is 'BPA Free' Really Living Up to its Name?

When my twins were born I had already gotten a boat load of bottles from my baby shower. I actually registered for the Avent infant starter kit and received two of them plus additional packs of 3 and 6! I had enough bottles to last them till they were in kindergarten. I was able to avoid using these bottles for 2 months as I breast fed and pumped milk into Medela BPA free containers. I had never heard of BPA (Bisephenol A) and didn't know it was found in any of the bottles I had until I read the reports, studies and stories on the news. Apparently BPA (found in hard plastics) mimics hormones in the human body and in even very small amounts over time can cause chronic toxicity. The funny thing is we have suspected that BPA is harmful since the 1930's and nothing has stopped the plastics industry from using it. By the time I found out, my boys were 6 months old and I had been using the bottles for 4 months. I immediately threw them all out. Garbage. I then went back to glass bottles and what we now see advertised as "BPA Free" bottles. In fact, Avent makes a BPA free bottle and it turned out that one of my twins really liked this bottle so I stuck with it. My other twin uses Born Free which is not made with BPA. Its interesting how quickly the industry responded to all these studies and threats. It was like over night, the BPA was mysteriously removed and all the bottles were now deemed safe. Too good to be true? I bet.

Here is an article that was just passed on to me from a good friend. It substantiates the fears I have that we are again being duped by the big corporations that have deep pockets and lobby our federal government. Don't think the FDA isn't in on this because they are. The FDA is not out to protect us and that is the major point of my post.

Please read below: Taken from the Journal Sentinel http://www.jsonline.com/features/health/52128182.html

Canadian regulators have found that baby bottles marketed to parents as "BPA free" may actually contain the chemical bisphenol A. Two of nine bottle brands tested by Health Canada, Canada's public health agency, showed "high readings" while "traces" were found in the others. The test results were released to the Canwest News Service under the country's Access to Information Act. The results have been published in Food Additives & Contaminants, a scientific journal. The report did not specify which brands had the higher levels. The names of the companies were blacked out of the report, the news service reported.

Hundreds of studies in recent years have linked the chemical to medical problems, including breast cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Canada has banned the sale and advertising of BPA in baby bottles. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, has ruled that BPA is safe for use. That finding was based on two studies, both of which were paid for by the chemical-makers. Last year, the FDA's own science advisory board found that the ruling improperly ignored hundreds of studies that found that the chemical caused harm, even at low doses. It recommended that the FDA reconsider the ruling. A new opinion is expected in the next few weeks.

The Journal Sentinel has reported extensively on the U.S. government's safety assessments of BPA. The newspaper has found that government regulators allowed chemical industry lobbyists to write sections of the government assessment draft. Last year, the Journal Sentinel paid for 10 items, marked as "microwave safe," to be tested for the presence of BPA. Toxic levels of the chemical were found to leach from all 10 items when they were heated. BPA, used to make hard, clear plastic, has been found in the urine of 93% of Americans tested. According to the news service, documents indicated that government scientists were surprised at the findings.

Health Canada spokesman Gary Scott Holub said Thursday that the agency could not distribute the study. According to the news service reports, the bottles were tested last year, soon after Canada announced a proposed ban on polycarbonate baby bottles. Canada has since banned the sale and advertisement of baby bottles made with BPA. In the United States, bans have been passed in Chicago, Long Island, Connecticut and Minnesota. Federal lawmakers are considering a ban, too. Sonya Lunder, senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group, called results of the Health Canada tests "curious." She said parents should still feel comfortable buying BPA-free bottles for their children because the levels are so low compared with bottles made with BPA. "Parents can make a dramatic and immediate reduction of BPA in their child's blood levels by switching from polycarbonate bottles" to bottles labeled as "BPA free." "This is still a huge relief," she said.

The American Chemistry Council, the lobbying group for the plastics industry, declined to comment on the Health Canada results. According to Canwest, the Canadian news service, bottle manufacturers are concerned that something was wrong with the analysis conducted.

I do believe that its a matter of time before BPA is banned nationwide but why are we still hearing about BPA in plastic bottles? Why are we still at risk? All I can say is that if you are still using bottles made of hard plastic, stop. Move to glass or stainless steel so that you know what you are getting. Make sure the stainless steel is not lined with any plastic either. BPA finds it way into so much product packaging and it leeches into the foods that its supposed to be protecting. Another reason not to eat processed foods!! If you must use plastic make sure its a BPA free manufacturer - not one that suddenly went "BPA Free". Here is a partial list of some of the companies I know to be BPA free:

Born Free
Boon
Nuby
Kleen Kanteen
Dr. Browns
Lansinoh
Medela

This article was scary and yet not surprising to me. Once the media flurry was over, I am sure these plastics companies went right back to cutting corners and knew that the FDA was there to protect them!