UPDATE:
I have written an article about the BornFree Glass Bottles and have found some interesting things about parts from assorted companies and how they can all fit together.
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If you use plastic in your life, you probably haven’t thought much about it. The problem is that apparently you should. It has been suspected for a while, but only recently has begun to be properly investigated, that depending on the plastic type, Bisphenol-A or assorted Phthalates are leaching out of the plastic. It is beginning to turn out that this may be a big problem, and thats not the “sky falling”.

First for some facts about the chemicals that are causing all the questions.

Bisphenol-A is a hormone disrupting chemical which is found in polycarbonate plastic because it is used in the manufacturing of that plastic, which is unfortunately what most baby bottles are made of. It also is what Nalgene bottles are made out of, which as an adult you might be more familiar with since you might use it camping or when you work out, but basically it is a clear hard plastic. What it does to you is specifically that it is an estrogen receptor agonist which means that it activates the same receptors that estrogen activates, but without the actual estrogen. As you can imagine, for little babies, this might not be a good thing since assorted parts might grow, or stop because they think your older than you are… On top of that, it is a carcinogen, developmentally toxic, and possibly neurotoxic. Recent studies are finding it may create the precursors for breast cancer and possibly encourage physiological obesity (that slow metabolism you always complain about? plastic possibly). Needless to say, it isn’t good for you.

Phthalates are used to plasticize (soften) hard plastics, such as PVC(poly vinyl chloride) which is theoretically fine, until it gets plasticized. Phthalates are used in a surprising number of products, such as nail polish, many housing and construction materials, consumer electronics, and toys. Toys are the main concern, and specifically any toy that is potentially chewed on regularly, ie. teethers. You know, those soft rubbery chewy bits for your baby to gnaw away at. This year a cross-sectional study of U.S. males conducted by researchers at Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry concluded that urine concentrations of four phthalate metabolites correlated with waist size and three phthalate metabolites correlate with the cellular resistance to insulin, a precursor to Type II diabetes. It also has been found in animal studies to have detrimental effects upon hormonal development, and damage to kidneys, liver and reproductive organs. So, the short version is, pthalates seem to be related to your probability of being a fat diabetic with low sperm count and failing kidneys and liver. Of course it could be that high phthalate levels might be a result of lifestyles that make them fat and diabetic, such as eating lots of frozen meals cooked in plastic containers.

The big problem comes into play when you heat these plastics, which you do when you heat up the milk that has been in the fridge and when you steam sterilize them. In addition, they develop micro-fissures over time, as you clean them, which increases the surface area of potential leaching. It just gets worse from there.

After that chunk of knowledge, and verifying it by reading it in more than a few trusted resources, I started thinking about Ashley and how to at least try to eliminate some possible vectors for exposure. The biggest one being the baby bottles, which are obviously made out of polycarbonate. It turns out the bottles we use, Dr Brown’s clear bottles, have a fairly low leach factor in one study I found, but another study contradicted that, so who knows who is right. However, in both studies they DO leach. So… what are my options?

I found Z-recommends which is a blog about kid stuff as well, and they were talking about a conversation they had with a representative at Handicraft, which is the company that makes Dr Brown’s bottles. The Handicraft folks of course deny all issues, and even go so far to say that all the talk is ’scare tactics’ to get people to buy more expensive bottles. Of course, my thought is why would the FDA or the EU version of the FDA care about how expensive the bottle is that you buy, it’s ridiculous. The post offers no options, but the comments do.

Apparently the Evenflow glass bottles and Gerber Clearview bottles fit the Dr Browns nipples and venting components (with a slight modification of the tube). Since the nipple and vent parts are polypropylene, which is fine, at least for now. But at the very least, you do not heat the milk up with the vent and nipple attached, so you reduce the potential if there is any.

I am currently not certain which bottle will fit the Dr Brown’s parts, so I will post a follow-up to report the specific details of what works, and whats required to make it work. This obviously has to do only with the Dr Brown’s stuff, since many people swear by it, and won’t switch, I think a solution needs to be found.

If you dont care about the Dr Brown’s system and just want to avoid Bisphenol and Phthalates, then you can buy any glass bottle brand. If you are looking for a venting system to help with colic, then there are a few options as well. One of which has been getting alot of press, newbornfree.com. I am not sure if any stores sell the bornfree but direct from the site they are expensive and always out of stock. Babies R Us sells BornFree now.

When Ashley graduates to a sippy cup, which is a way off, we are probably going to go with the Kleen Kanteen sippy cup, which is stainless steel. We use the big bottles for our water. Another option is SIGG bottles, but I have a slight concern because they are aluminum, and lined with some kind of coating, which who knows what that will turn out to do to you.