Bisphenol-A - the threat is real!

I just received an email update from the softlanding blog. It appears that the danger in using polycarbonate products which contain Bisphenol-A (BPA) is real! Canada has identified BPA as a dangerous substance. This raises much concern especially since a lot of the products available in the Philippines are not BPA-free. The Washington Post has a recent article on how to limit BPA exposure.

But what is BPA? From Wikipedia: "Bisphenol A (abbreviated BPA) is an organic compound x x x which is a difunctional building block to several important polymers and polymer additives." Harmful effects of BPA, identified by the U.S. government's National Toxicology Program's report, is discussed in this article:

"[BPA] appears to mimic the effects of estrogen, interfering with hormone levels and cell signaling systems. Previous studies have shown that people exposed to high levels of BPA have a greater risk of developing uterine fibroids, breast cancer, decreased sperm counts, and prostrate cancer. Babies and children are thought to be at greatest risk from the exposure. In fact, the scientific evidence warrants 'a higher level of concern than those expressed by the expert [scientific] panel for possible effects of bisphenol A on prostate gland, mammary gland and early onset of puberty in exposed fetuses, infants and children.'"

What does this mean for Filipino moms? First, it may mean that you have to toss out those Avent bottles! I have tons of them - inherited from my brother and sister-in-law. Luckily, I have had the luxury of stopping work and Naima directly breastfeeds from me. I've also invested in BornFree bottles in case we would need to bottle feed her. However, I'm hoping that she'll soon learn to drink milk from a spoon so we could skip the bottles.

The Softlanding Blog and SafeMama have come up with guides which list BPA-free products:

Safer Kids Cup and Dish Guide and
Safer Pacifier Guide and Pacifiers and Teethers
Safer Sippy Cup Guide and Bottles and Sippy Cups
Safer Baby Bottle Guide
Safer Bath Toy Guide
Safer Teether Guide
BPA Free Nuby Product Guide
BPA Free Sassy Product Guide

Unfortunately, most of these products are not available locally. You can order them from multiply sellers but they take about a month to arrive. I called Rustan's to inquire about the availability of Sassy products but was informed that they have been pulled out. At my last visit to Rustan's I could only find Munchkin products. SafeMama has identified some Munchkin cups as BPA-free. But information on other Munchkin products are not available. Since we have a bathtub and Naima is almost teething, I emailed Munchkin to check which of their products are BPA-free. I've received their email about bath toys and still waiting to get feedback about the teethers. I've also emailed Zojirushi and learning curve for some products and received replies as well. One of these days, I'm going to Rustan's and list down all the products I want to get for Naima and email the manufacturers to make sure that they are BPA-free!