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Baby Bottles

What To Look For

Most plastic baby bottles are made with polycarbonate, a rigid durable plastic that has the potential to leach bisphenol A into your baby's drinks. Bisphenol A (BPA) has been linked to a number of health concerns, including hormone disruption and some cancers, and the National Toxicology Program recently concluded that there is "some concern for neural and behavioral effects" in infants and children, given current exposure rates to BPA. Fortunately, preventing exposure is easy if you choose glass or safer plastic (#2, #4 or #5) bottles.

Safer Materials

Glass

Glass baby bottles are a time-tested alternative to polycarbonate plastic, which is can leach hormone-disrupting bisphenol A into your baby's food. Glass is a renewable resource, easily recyclable and does not leach toxic chemicals. Glass bottles are, of course, subject to breakage, and there are risks of serious cuts to your child. Additionally, glass can chip or crack and can break when sterilized, allowing glass splinters to end up in baby's beverage. The American Academy of Pediatrics urges parents not to let babies go to sleep with a bottle, and toddlers should not be allowed to walk around with a bottle. These precautions help prevent tooth decay and mouth injuries; they also help prevent breakage and injuries from glass bottles. As with plastic, careful and regular inspections of the bottle allow parents to detect any flaws in the glass. Recycle any scratched, cracked, or chipped glass bottle.

Plastics: #2 HDPE, #4 LDPE and #5 PP

Although polycarbonate bottles containing bisphenol A are the most common kind of baby bottle on the market, there are other plastic baby bottles available that do not contain bisphenol A. These opaque bottles are made of either polypropylene or polyethylene, which are not known to leach carcinogens or endocrine disruptors. Recycling symbols can provide some information about the plastic: polyethylene has #2 (high-density polyethylene, HDPE) or #4 (low-density polyethylene, LDPE) on the underside, and polypropylene (PP) has #5. Polycarbonate bottles are #7. Because many bottles are not labeled with a recycling number, the surest way to know whether a bottle is made of polycarbonate is to call the manufacturer. Keep in mind, though, that all plastic bottles are petroleum products, requiring the use of non-renewable resources.

PES Plastics

New to the baby bottle market is a plastic called polyether sulphone, or PES. Although PES hasn't been studied as thoroughly as #2, #4 and #5 plastics, lab studies have found that it does not leach BPA or phthalates (a hormone-disrupting plasticizer commonly used in #3 PVC plastics). Fredrick vom Saal, a lead researcher on BPA, has said that because PES doesn't react as readily as polycarbonate to heat, acidic liquids or dishwashing detergents, it doesn't break down as quickly and is therefore less likely to leach chemicals into a bottle's contents.

Silicone Nipples

Replace standard rubber nipples (amber-colored) with clear, silicone nipples. Not only are silicone nipples free of cancer-causing nitrosamines, but they last longer. Inspect nipples regularly and discard any with cracks or tears, which can harbor bacteria and also pose a choking hazard.