By Jennifer Berger, Newsday
I did a lot of research before I had my daughter. There were certain things I wanted for her that I wouldn’t back down on, for example, buying BPA-free products. So I was happy to hear recently that the FDA announced that baby bottles and sippy cups can no longer contain bisphenol-A, or BPA, the plastic chemical which has been controversial for years.
The Associated Press reports that the American Chemistry Council, the U.S. chemical industry’s chief association, had asked the Food and Drug Administration to phase out rules allowing BPA in those products in October, after determining that all manufacturers of bottles and sippy cups had already abandoned the chemical due to safety concerns. It is illegal for companies to use substances not covered by FDA rules.
BPA is found in hundreds of plastic items from water bottles to CDs to dental sealants. Some researchers say ingesting the chemical can interfere with development of the reproductive and nervous systems in babies and young children. They point to dozens of studies showing such an effect from BPA in rodents and other animals.
It wasn’t hard more than a year ago to find BPA-free products for my daughter, Maggie, but it’s great to see it’s finally banned. Currently, there are many companies advertising BPA bottles and sippy cups. Here’s a list of some my favorites:
- Babylife
- Born Free
- Dr. Brown’s
- Innobaby
- MAM by Sassy
- Medela
- Munchkin
- Nuby
- Playtex Drop-Ins
- Philips AVENT
- Safe Sippy
- Tommee Tippee