BPA and Your Family

You’d be hard pressed not to have heard about all the press Bisphenol-A (BPA) has gotten recently. Canada is considering banning it in baby bottles. The FDA recently showed its support for BPA. And every week it seems as though products from bottles to blenders, toys to food storage containers are been pulled from shelves or conversely, have been touting their BPA-free status.
As a mother with two infant children, I’m concerned just like you about limiting or lessening the harmful substances my children come in contact with be it pesticides, high fructose corn syrup or lead. But I also know that scare tactics can circulate in mommy circles faster than a cold at playgroup. So I wondered if all this BPA hype was true.
Here is some of what I found in my research:
• What is Bisphenol-A?
BPA is a chemical primarily used in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resin. It can be found in everything from drinking bottles and cans to compact discs and medical devices. It can also be combined with other materials to create hard plastics that can be found around the house and in the car.
• Is BPA dangerous?
I’ve found it depends who you ask. It seems that most people agree that high doses of BPA are dangerous to both humans and animals, but it is the low dose that most people are exposed to where the debate rages on.
– FDA says that there is “a large body of evidence that indicates that FDA-regulated products containing BPA currently on the market are safe and that exposure levels to BPA from food contact materials, including for infants and children, are below those that may cause health effects”. But as of April 14th, the FDA currently has a BPA Task Force revisiting the newest data on BPA.
– The Environmental Working Group reports that “more than 100 peer-reviewed studies have found BPA to be toxic at low doses, some similar to those found in people, yet not a single regulatory agency has updated safety standards to reflect this low-dose toxicity.”
– The National Toxicology Program deems that there is “some concern for neural and behavioral effects in fetuses, infants, and children at current human exposures… [and] on effects in the prostate gland, mammary gland, and an earlier age for
puberty in females.”
So where does that leave consumers? Since it’s known to be harmful in large doses, there’s a chance that small doses of BPA may have some impact on the body too. The question is, how severe an impact? We all live with certain levels of risk in our lives and it’s up to each individual to determine which risks he or she deems acceptable and which risks are too great to take.
• How do I know if a product contains BPA?
Tricky. I’ve heard that some products have a “PC” label on the bottom, designating them as a polycarbonate and therefore including BPA, but I have yet to see a product with this label. Many website will erroronously say to look for a #7 recycling code on the bottom. #7 however, just means “Other” according to the Resin Identification System. This means that the product doesn’t fall into the categories 1-6 which each designate a specific type of plastic. But in and of itself, a #7 doesn’t mean that a product has BPA in it. The best source for information on kid products I have found is found at Z Recommends. They not only have a number of articles on BPA-free cups, tablewear and containers, but also offer this incredible free BPA Mobile Project service whereby you send a text to Z Recommends with the company and product name and they send a text back with the product’s BPA status. You can also request a text of all BPA-free sippy cups or bottles. Perfect for instant info when you’re out and about.
In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting a number of reviews on BPA-free drinking containers for babies, kids and adults. Subscribe to the MWS blog feed to watch for upcoming reviews or search for “BPA-free” in the search box to find ones you’ve missed.