Comments on: Waging War Against Bisphenol A

By: John

John — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:40:42 +0000

I feel very strongly about this. My wife had breast cancer and I have never been so angry about it. She is OK and clear now, but it was a tough time. Hormone balance is SO important and we mees with it at our peril.

By: John Crenshaw

John Crenshaw — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 08:36:26 +0000

Hi
Thanks for this wonderful Report on Bisphenol A.
One question?
Please. Were do I buy the 10 dollar kit for testing? lol
Be Well,

By: Geneva

Geneva — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Yes, I do think we should. This is why we haven’t used any of the cute melamine dishes we got for presents, and why I special-ordered glass bottles for milk storage and feeding. It’s so tempting to think “well, it was good enough for us growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s; what harm can it do?”—but we have only to look at all our friends on Ritalin or antidepressants or fertility treatments to poke a hole in that complacency.

By: Erica

Erica — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Do you ever worry about the tap water here in Greenpoint? My boyfriend worries about it because of the oil spill in the 70s, and insists we drink bottled water.

By: lana

lana — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wow. I never even thought about our brita or canned tomatoes! Aie!

By: mihow

mihow — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Not really. That’s in our groundwater, so if we were to grow vegetables, yes, I’d be concerned. But the water doesn’t touch the oil spill. I think consuming and then discarding bottles of water is much worse for us than drinking the tap water. But that’s based on no real factual information. So, like with most things you read on here, take it with a grain of salt, my dear.

By: mihow

mihow — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

That last comment was in response to Erica.

Lana, I do believe you can get glass Brita pitchers in England, but we couldn’t figure out how to buy them so we’re just drinking the tap water for now. Probably will continue to do so. (I never used tap water to make ice, so why bother with the water? Plus, how often does one clean those out really well?)

By: Kizz

Kizz — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The drinking water in NYC is piped in from the mountains. It is, in fact, some of the best municipal water in the nation.

However, with a little research I’m sure someone could find fault with it (the pipes it comes in, the animals on the mountain, the air nearby). Still, I think we’re doing pretty well with it.

By: Amber

Amber — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Another option for those who want to cut down on waste, but don’t want to drink unfiltered tap water, is to get a filter that screws directly on to the faucet. That way, it’s automatically filtered and goes straight into the glass you want to drink from, instead of sitting in a plastic pitcher, which personally I definitely never cleaned enough when I had one.

By: KidKate

KidKate — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I believe the Medela bottles are BPA-free as well. They say so on the packaging (though I got mine in England) and Dr. Greene (can’t think of his first name) recommends them as such in Raising Baby Green along w/ Born Free.

Can you recommend some other BPA-free brands (formula, organic mattress, etc)?

By: mihow

mihow — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

We use Similac Organic. As far as I know, and I have asked repeatedly, it’s BPA free. Our mattress is… I have to ask TJ. He researched the mattresses and was in charge of buying it. I’ll report back about that. It’s a REALLY nice mattress. We just purchased their organic sheets to go over top as well. The sheets are unbelievable soft. I often wish I could climb into bed with Emory.

By: Lana

Lana — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I think switching to tap water is a good idea. And I just ordered some SIGG bottles to keep at work. Am definitely going to reduce how much canned products I buy… fresh or frozen from now on. yikes.

By: mihow

mihow — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

We bought this mattress from Naturepedic. It’s a bit more pricey than the regular mattresses but it’s firm and awesome. And will last him for many years.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

A relatively new site, www.safemama.com has some great info. She posts a couple of “cheat sheets” that lists items that are BPA-free, at the upper left hand corner of the front page.

Bottles & Sippy Cups

Pacifiers & Teethers

The Vulli brand teethers mentioned in the list (from France) are also phthalate-free, all natural rubber, food grade paint and all that good stuff at www.kangarooboo.com The owner is a cancer survivor and donate a portion of every order to kids’ charity. Buy stuff that you want, and feel good about it too. How cool is that?

By: jenB

jenB — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

We are weaning ourselves off the plastics as well. IT IS hard! Who knew? I just bought some of those SIGG bottles for us.

By: mihow

mihow — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Is this what you are referring to? can you customize them as it appears to be from the homepage?

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’d question the use of tapwater in this area.

The spill affects the groundwater, not the reservoirs… but please remember that the water pipes are below ground too.

NYC tap water at the plants is very pure… but a lot can happen in the ‘local loop’ or the last mile. Even more can happen in your house.

Water at my place seems to have a bit of rust/minerals in it… occasionally being slightly brown and causing stains on the tub & sink. I check it often to monitor hardness ( i like to keep my espresso machines in tune). I’m not too crazy about cooking/drinking it straight though.

Anyways, my point is this: don’t trust tap-water reports – they talk about the health of the water at its source and at test sites, not to your own tap. For $10 you can pick up a test kit and find out exactly what is in your own tap.

Also remember… your hot water hits the boiler first and can pick up contaminants there. Cold is generally cleaner.

By: mahlookma

mahlookma — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m a fan of the Sigg bottles as well. Customization for them is pretty much limited to picking a bottle (Lifestyle bottles have a number of nifty designs, but I think my favorite .6 L is the Ninja bottle in the Kids category), and then choosing a different cap for it for an extra dollar.

If you do decide to snag a Sigg or two, here’s a coupon code I’ve been for 30% off that made Sigg bottles my go-to holiday gift: SIGGVIP3007mLnX82PzJK

After having bought a few, I noticed that shipping is the same for 1-3 bottles.

By: mahlookma

mahlookma — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

that was meant to read “I’ve been using”

By: Elle

Elle — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

My baby was born in November so I did a lot of research after all the Bisphenol reports in the news and toy recalls of last year. I found this report before using any of the Dr Brown and pacifiers I bought. I took everything back and bought Born Free bottles and Gerber/Nuc pacifiers.

http://zrecs.blogspot.com/2007/11/z-report-bisphenol-in-baby-bottles-and.html

In the news today:

Isn’t it ironic all the ‘remedies’ out there that is just so harmful for our children. These companies are just out to make money without thinking of the effect on innocent children.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080128/ap_on_he_me/cold_medicines

By: sarah l

sarah l — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Thank you for the info. I knew some of the risks, not all. We have used Avent bottles for both of our kids, now I feel just awful! My youngest probably has about 6 months left of bottle feeding…so we are calling all around to see who sells glass bottles in the area. There goes my Monday night!

By: mihow

mihow — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

OH, sweetie, don’t freak out! A little bit here and there is totally fine! It’s when you add it all up! Do not worry. Seriously. I am not worried Emory ate so much out of the plastic. Hell, I’ve been drinking stuff from plastic for a long time! Don’t worry. Don’t lose sleep. Just do a little research, cut some things out and go on with your life.

Seriously, don’t worry. Getting rid of 2 things out of however many is enough in my opinion.

By: ashley

ashley — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

thank you so much for writing on this Michele – I can’t believe I haven’t heard about it til now. I think I’ll stick with tap water in my new apartment rather than get a brita. I also noticed that my Nalgene is #7 – which is a shame. I’m going to look into a better alternative for carting around the 10 gallons of water I drink every day :)

By: charm

charm — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I agree with your stance on reducing plastics and hope that i can acheive some level of reduction within the next few weeks in our household… my vintage tupperware addiction be damned :)

one comment on the Sigg bottles though…

taken from their website Recently, there has been a lot of press concerning Lexan plastic water bottles (Polycarbonate #7) leaching harmful chemicals into the container’s ingredients. It’s extremely important to note that SIGG bottles exceed FDA requirements and have been thoroughly tested to ensure 0.0% leaching – so they are 100% safe.

they do not expressly detail their #7 content but only mention the sigg bottle exceeds FDA standards… and that doesnt sit 100% well with my mind since 0.0% leeching sounds like ZERO but that is a rounded figure most likely and the FDA requirement isnt ZERO. although it is better than the Nalgene bottle for sure.

By: mihow

mihow — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wow, thanks for that info, Charm. I have to admit, I get very little time these days to really sit down and read everything. My first priority is always Emory, everything else (and I mean everything) has to come second.

I miss a lot. Thanks.

Also, Michelle with two l’s thank for all the helpful links! I forgot to mention that.

Thanks, everyone.

By: wendy

wendy — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t have anything substantial to add to this, but I just wanted to say thank you for writing! I don’t have any kids, but the husband and I are starting to think about procreating in the next year or so. As two academics, we are very keen to start our preliminary research, so big thanks.

And I, personally, didn’t roll my eyes once!

By: bjgunner

bjgunner — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Off Topic:

Happy Birthday you old mother!

By: sarah l

sarah l — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Kleen Kanteen…this what we replaced our nalgenes with and we love them…even better than the SIGG bottles in our opinion. Re: bottles…last night we made the switch from Avent to Gerber GentleFlow…the baby couldn’t tell the diff. but at least now I don’t have to worry about it. Next on my list of things to worry about…wireless internet in our house and what that does to our brains?!

By: Erica

Erica — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Thank you so much for posting on these topics Michele. While I don’t have children yet, I plan on starting soon. Knowledge about such chemicals is important to my own health as well.

What do you do about food storage for your self? I bring my lunch to work with me every day, and I am looking for spill proof glass containers. I have been using glass pyrex with a plastic lid (which I don’t put in the microwave if reheating). I don’t think a glass lid will withstand my commute, but I am wondering if someone is producing food storage containers, with plastic lids that do not contain Bisphenol A. Any thoughts?

I am already purchasing some Klean Kanteen’s and ditching the Nalgenes.

Thanks!

By: Sharon

Sharon — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Oh my god, there is nothing I can do to turn back time but if I could I would throw away all the avent bottles that my daughter drank from from 1 year to four (in France its normal to let a child drink from a bottle until they decide to stop). I used to heat them in the microwave and deliberately didn’t buy new ones to encourage her to stop…looks like I got it all wrong. Baby2 however doesn’t drink from a bottle so we’re off to a better start.

Tap water here smells of chlorine, even the cat won’t drink it so will have to research the filter options…

pfiou, I’m overwhelmed.