Growing children are particularly vulnerable to chemicals in their environment. Their rapidly developing bodies and reduced ability to metabolize toxics heighten their risk of damage from exposure to toxic chemicals.

Through past product testing, Environ-ment California Research and Policy Center has been able to show that toxic chemicals are in products our children use every day. Earlier this year, we conducted tests to determine the extent to which these toxics leach from the products into a baby’s body.

In February, Environment California Research and Policy Center released a report, “Toxic Baby Bottles: Scientific Study Finds Leaching in Clear Plastic Baby Bottles.” For this report, Environment California Research and Policy Center worked with an independent laboratory to determine whether toxic chemicals leach from the most popular clear, plastic baby bottles on the market. The release of “Toxic Baby Bottles” at press conferences in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento garnered significant media attention statewide.

Children are particularly susceptible to toxins in everyday products. (credit: Shutterstock)

The report focused on bisphenol A—a chemical linked to developmental, neurological and reproductive problems.

All five bottle brands tested, including Avent, Dr. Brown’s, Evenflo, Gerber and Playtex, leached bisphenol A at levels found to cause harm in numerous laboratory animal studies.

Bisphenol A is most commonly used to make clear polycarbonate plastic for consumer products, such as baby bottles. This plastic breaks down and leaches bisphenol A into liquids and food contained in bottles.

Scientists have linked very low doses of bisphenol A exposure to cancers, impaired immune function, early onset of puberty, obesity, diabetes and hyperactivity, among other problems. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found bisphenol A in the urine of over 95 percent of people they tested. Alarmingly, the median level of bisphenol A found in humans is higher than the level that causes adverse health effects in animal studies.

Alternatives to polycarbonate plastic baby bottles are already on the market. For parents who want to continue using plastic baby bottles, bottles made from polypropylene-based plastic do not contain bisphenol A. The safer plastic bottles are squeezable and typically opaque in appearance, whereas the polycarbonate plastic bottles with bisphenol A are very hard and unbendable and typically clear in appearance. Also, glass bottles are a safe alternative for both bottle feeding and milk storage.

“Although parents may be able to avoid some uses of bisphenol A, they cannot be expected to deal with these issues on their own,” said Rachel Gibson, environmental health advocate and staff attorney for Environment California Research and Policy Center, who wrote the report. “California must act to assist parents and ensure that products on the market are not harmful for children.”

Under current law, manufacturers can put chemicals on the market without proving they are safe for human health or the environment, allowing countless toxic chemicals to make their way into consumer products that we use every day. California should require chemical companies to provide our state regulators with all hazard and health-effects information so agencies can begin to assess the thousands of chemicals currently on the market and in consumer products for which little or inadequate data are currently available. In addition, our state regulators should be given the authority to protect public health by banning or restricting the use of a chemical if evidence shows that it can harm human health.

In the absence of a regulatory process to phase out dangerous chemicals in California, we must work to eliminate the biggest chemical threats, especially those faced by our children.

San Francisco passes ban on toxics

In June 2006, San Francisco became the first jurisdiction in the United States to pass a prohibition on the use of bisphenol A in toys and child care articles intended for use by children under the age of three. This year, Environment California is sponsoring legislation, authored by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (San Francisco), which would extend this ban statewide.

Download a complete copy of “Toxic Baby Bottles”