There have been several new bundles of joy added to the askHRgreen.org family recently, and with my own little girl on the way, we thought it might be fun to do a green baby blog miniseries. Before you click away because you’re not pregnant, let’s ease into this with a general topic, but one many mommies worry about. Is BPA, or Bisphenol A, which is found in many plastic products, as bad as people say? Since I’ve been thinking about baby bottles, I decided it’s time to investigate, and some interesting info popped up.
The properties in the chemical BPA make it especially good for making hard plastics like water and baby bottles. It’s also used as an epoxy to line metal-based food and beverage cans, like tuna cans and formula containers. According to the FDA’s website, studies show that for most humans the amounts of BPA we might consume appears safe. For babies, however, the FDA states, “…the National Toxicology Program expressed “some concern for effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and children at current human exposures to Bisphenol A.” In July 2012, the FDA banned the use of BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups, but hasn’t taken that action for baby formula cans. The agency’s current stance is that the nutritional benefits of the formula outweigh the potential BPA risks.
The most interesting part of my research was discovering all the other places BPA is found; I assumed it was just a bottled water concern. Did you know it’s even on some receipt paper and CDs? It seems studies are still ongoing as to the health effects on humans, but it has me thinking about my own food and beverage containers and what I might be passing on to my baby.