BPA in Baby Bottles | Family

By Blueriver
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The majority of plastic baby bottles marketed to parents of young children has known carcinogens and can leak these toxins over time when washed with harsh dishwashing soap. Recent tests have also shown that BPA can and do migrate from polycarbonate when used in a microwave oven.

Baby foods stored in cans usually suffer long exposure to the polycarbonate inner lining. Again BPA found in the polycarbonate will migrate to the stored food. Normally foods removed from polycarbonate lined cans are covered by PVC derived plastic wraps, another known carcinogen.

BPA is widely used in the manufacture of plastic packaging, the lining of food cans and in some dental fillings. Claims have also been made that BPA behaves in the same manner as diethylstilbestrol (DES) an artificial estrogen banned for pregnant women.

The Society of Plastics Industry created the resin identification codes for the purpose of plastic recycling. These codes are located on the labels of plastic baby bottles or imprinted on the bottom of the bottles. The SPI code is a general code but different states implement them differently, in any case it is good to know that BPA is found in at least 50% of plastic resins.

The first of the SPI codes represents the plastic resin PET or PETA and is represented by the number 1 inside the recycle triangle on the label or bottom of the container. These have no known hazards and are supposedly BPA free. The second SPI code represents the plastic resin HDPE and is represented by the number 2 inside the recycling triangle. HDPE has no known hazards and is used heavily in plastic toys.

The third plastic is called PVC and we know this to be commonly used in PVC pipes, but it can also be found in plastic food wraps, so look for the number three in the recycling triangle. Low Density Polyethylene is commonly known as LDPE and is plastic number 4, there are no known hazards as in BPA derived plastics, one reason why it is used in plastic food packages and soft sport bottles.

Polypropylene abbreviated PP and identified by the number 5 is less toxic than most other plastics. Plastic number 5 is used to package foods like butter, margarine and yogurt. Plastic number "6" is polystyrene. Next time you pick up a non-paper egg carton, check the recycle triangle to see if it is also labeled with the letters "PS"

The SPI originally had six codes, the number 7 was added to include new plastics that combined the resins of the previous six, and can include plastics with BPA or plastics derived from natural biodegradable sources.

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