Are your plastic bottles BPA

This back-to-school season we’re urging you to BYOB: ban your old bottles.

If you’ve got kids school age or younger, then chances are that you’ve got water bottles, plastic cups and perhaps baby bottles kicking around your house.   For years, many of these bottles and cups marketed for children and babies were made of a hard, transparent plastic that contained the chemical bisphenol-A, or BPA.  In recent years, numerous scientific studies have confirmed the bad news about BPA: it leaches out of the plastic into the beverages, and this has many negative health impacts for humans, particularly children.

In addition to its chemical properties that help make plastic hard, clear and shatterproof, BPA is also an endocrine disrupter that can interfere with normal body functions.  Early onset of puberty, reproductive abnormalities, and a heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers have been linked to BPA exposure, along with increased rates of heart disease and diabetes.  Children and babies, whose bodies are still developing, are particularly vulnerable.

Many manufacturers are now offering BPA-free baby bottles, sippy cups, and reusable water bottles, and you should be able to easily find them at most major retailers and sporting good stores.  Companies were pretty quick to pick up on the fact that consumers wanted BPA-free kids’ products, so they’ll likely be well-labeled.

The bad news, however, is that we’re pretty much on our own to investigate safer options and search the shelves for BPA-free products. It’s still perfectly within a company’s right to manufacture bottles that contain BPA, and it’s at the discretion of a store owner whether or not to sell them.  Recently though several states – seven so far – have taken matters into their own hands and passed legislation banning BPA from certain children’s products (Washington and Vermont also banned it from reusable sports bottles).  But the real showdown is likely to happen at the federal level next month, when the Senate is expected to begin debate on a bill to overhaul our food safety system.  Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) plans to propose an amendment that would impose a national ban on BPA in baby bottles, sippy cups and baby food containers.   We support her efforts, and think that all consumers deserve the protections that so far have been made available only in the seven states that have passed laws.  We’ll keep you posted as the bill progresses.

In the meantime, take a few minutes to do a quick check on the beverage containers your kids are using.  One general rule of thumb is to check the bottom of the bottle or cup for the recycling number.  Historically a number 7 meant that it was made of hard polycarbonate that contained BPA.  However, there are now containers labeled with a number 7 that also are BPA-free.  But if you don’t remember when or where you got them, or whether they came with a ‘BPA-free’ label, the safest thing to do is chuck them and get new ones.

A word of caution on water bottles: a metal bottle doesn’t mean it’s safe, as some have plastic liners that contain BPA.  Aluminum Sigg bottles, especially popular with kids for their small sizes and colorful designs, had plastic liners that contained BPA until 2008.  Sigg bottles now sold at stores are BPA-free, but the ones from a year or two ago floating around your house probably are not.   Another option is stainless steel water bottles (such as Kleen Kanteen) which do not have any kind of plastic liner and are BPA-free.

Bottom line: we now know enough about BPA to be worried about its health effects, especially when it comes to kids.  Kick this school year off with a quick safety check of the water bottles and other containers your kids are using.  If there’s any question, follow the basic rule of ‘if in doubt, throw it out’ and BYOB for some newer, BPA-free models.  If you can’t find BPA-free products, feel free to ask stores and manufactures why they don’t carry them, and when they plan to do so.

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