by Vonda J. Sines

Created on: February 05, 2008

One of the most overlooked hazards to your baby looks harmless. It's a polycarbonate plastic baby bottle.

According to The Chicago Tribune, researchers concerned with the evils of a common chemical known as bisphenol-A (BPA) suggest you should toss out these baby bottles along with any toys suspected of containing lead or dangerous magnets.

BPA can be found in a variety of manufactured items, according to a Tribune article titled "As Long As You're Hauling Out Toys, Take Some Plastic" by Julie Deardorff. Some typical products with BPA include liners of food cans, lenses in your eyeglasses, and shatterproof baby bottles. With regular use, the chemical bond between BPA and the polycarbonate in a baby bottle breaks down and leaches from the plastic.

Industry utilizes more than 6 billion pounds of BPA each year, according to author Daniel J. DeNoon. He indicates that The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) believes that 95 percent of Americans have measurable amounts of the toxic chemical in our blood. It's half-life in the human body is about six hours.

Deardorff maintains that researchers have found BPA acts similar to the female sex hormone known as estradiol. During animal studies, scientists have noted female reproductive problems, early onset of puberty, and cancer of the breast and the prostate at even low levels of exposure to BPA. They also cite a link to lowered sperm counts and developmental issues.

According to The Tribune, last year a Federal panel voiced "some concern" about the risk to brain development of fetuses, babies, or children. However, scientists are arguing big time about the relationship, if any, between animal studies and effects on human beings.

Deardorff indicates that a group of 38 independent researchers recently warned that even very low levels of BPA exposure could cause adverse health effects, especially to a fetus.

What about a replacement for your baby's plastic bottles? The most obvious alternative is glass. However, switching now won't help your older child, who drank from a plastic bottle for two years, some researchers believe. One of the reasons opinion is divided over the older child is the range of sensitivity to BPA that scientists have observed among individuals.

Fortunately, there are now a number of BPA-free bottles on retailers' shelves. If you want to make a switch but your child will not tolerate another type of nipple, Deardorff suggests that you can still manage to lower the risk of BPA exposure in these ways:

1. Avoid heating

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