To BPA? NOT to BPA, thank you...

Having a child has opened my eyes to many things, for good (true selflessness and unconditional love) and for bad (chemicals in plastics that I never knew were there, nor cared much about before having a child). About a month after Emily was born, I read a news article talking about a chemical called BPA, used for years in much of the plastic products on the market today, and at the time, used in nearly all baby bottles. The article outlined the dangers of the chemical, citing several studies linking it to reproductive problems in lab animals, and a variety of other possible health issues, especially when the plastic is heated. I had never heard of this chemical, nor any issues with baby bottles, but quickly found out that Emily’s Playtex bottles – which I heated up nearly every day - contained BPA.  All it took was a quick Google search on BPA to tell me all I needed to know to get rid of those baby bottles: how most baby bottles and many baby toys contain it and how manufacturers insist the products are safe even in the face of hundreds of independent research studies dispelling its safety.  I went out that day and bought Emily some bottles specifically labeled BPA-free, which were difficult to find then, and are still relatively hard to locate.

That was September 2007, and things are slowly changing for the better.  Earlier this year, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services admitted that BPA might alter an infant's development, just last week announcing there was some concern the chemical could disrupt development of the prostate gland and brain, and cause behavioral problems for infants and children (although the FDA still claims that it's totally harmless?!), and in April, Canada banned the use of BPA in baby bottles sold there.  BPA has been all over the news lately - the Chicago Tribune did a series of stories recently on the prevalence of the chemical in all kinds of baby products in the face of research studies dispelling its safety – and many retailers, no doubt prompted by the heightened awareness among consumers, have vowed to stop selling the product by 2009.  Target, Wal-Mart and Babies R’Us are some of those stores, yet even now it’s hard to find any products that are BPA-free at the stores, and the only one of those stores that sells the bottles I use (and that I think are pretty popular among BPA-free bottles), Born Free, is Babies R’Us. The only problem is that Babies R’Us isn’t that prevalent –  there are only a handful of stores in the Chicagoland area.

But today, I was so excited to see that Target - with 1,500 stores+ in the U.S. to Babies R' Us' 250 - is now selling my favorite Born Free bottles. Even though Emily is about to graduate from the bottle, I applaud Target for raising awareness and giving even more moms and dads access to truly safe products for their babies. Hopefully more mass market retailers (ahem, Wal-Mart?) will do the same. 

For anyone looking for more information on BPA and an easy-to-use list of safe products, check out one of my favorite blogs, ZRecommends at zrecs.blogspot.com.   It's been a huge help in helping me figure out which products are safe for Emily.