Last summer, just after I had my baby, I started reading about Bisphenol-A and phthalates in plastics. I knew sorta-kinda about some of the studies, but everything I read seemed to say "inconclusive" as far as dangers and effects on the human body. Even so, I got rid of the highly touted baby bottles I was using because the reports I was reading seemed to point to these types of clear, hard plastics as being some of the worst culprits. We decided to use the small, not very fancy, kind of cloudy bottles that came with my breast pump because those same reports seemed to say that they were the safest.
I got the sense that people thought I was overreacting, or even a little hysterical about it all. Even so, I've kept my eye on the studies and reports. And now, as my daughter approaches her 9th month of life, certain plastics are beginning to really come under fire.
Basically, a few decades ago, certain chemicals were outlawed because of the harmful effects they had on the human body. But the two chemicals I mentioned above were grandfathered in because they had been around and were used in many manufacturing processes for years (big business wins again). Anyway, now we know that they have caused all kinds of ill effects on lab animals "from reproductive havoc to impaired blood-sugar control and obesity."
The EU outlawed phthalates several years ago, but the US still allows these chemicals, even in children's toys. Truth is, the studies phthalates are still "inconclusive," although "Studies showed that rats and mice fed very high doses of DINP developed liver and/or kidney tumors after exposure over a lifetime." Apparently, "Only children who mouthed toys containing DINP for long periods of time every day could potentially exceed that very conservative acceptable daily intake level." Well, I don't know if you've ever been around an infant, but their main goal in life is to put everything they come into contact with in their mouths...for long periods of time.
Anyway, there are some great alternatives to plastic, although to be honest, it is really hard to escape them completely. For one, we use disposable diapers. My only excuse is that we both work full time, and I want the little time I have with my little one to be quality time. I already spend so much time washing clothes and bottles and all the rest, that I just couldn't hack the cloth diapers. For those of you who can, more power to you!
Anyway, here are a few of my favorite resources:
Bambu dinnerware - http://www.bambuhome.com/
Medela bottles - http://www.medela.com/ISBD/countries.php
Born Free - http://www.newbornfree.com/
Baby Cubes - http://babycubes.com/
Sigg Water Bottles - http://www.mysigg.com/
Fuzzy Bunz - http://www.fuzzibunz.com/ (I couldn't do it, but if you can...)
Other links I like:
American Apparel - http://store.americanapparel.net/babies.html
Moms Rising - http://www.momsrising.org/
Monday, February 25, 2008
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2 comments:
Wow! Thanks for all this information! I'm sending it to my sister-in-law right now! (They just had a little one 2 weeks ago. I know they bought plastic bottles, but I cannot remember what kind.)
I second the recommendation of stainless steel water bottles! (Sigg brand is quite expensive, but my local natural foods grocery sells 20oz ss bottles for $9. Shop around before you buy.)
An acquaintance of mine uses cloth diapers for his baby and says it's not a huge amount of work. He does use "G Diapers" for nighttime, which are a compromise: The cloth outer section holds a snap-in panel, which catches the baby's waste. The panel is flushable or compostable. (http://www.gdiapers.com)
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