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May 17, 2007:
Health concerns generated by a new report may
prompt many parents to discard the plastic baby
bottles and go back to the good old baby bottles
made of glass.
A recent report has said that a chemical called
bisphenol A may leech from the plastic bottles
into the milk.
Environment California, an environmental group,
recently released a report titled Toxic Baby
Bottles that has attracted media attention across
the United States.
Bisphenol A is used to make polycarbonate – the
clear, shatter-proof plastic used in baby bottles.
It is also found in the lining of food cans and
some anti-cavity sealants for teeth.
When heated, the most popular brands of baby
bottles made with polycarbonate leached bisphenol
A at levels that have been found to cause harm in
laboratory animals, according to the report by
Environment California.
Several laboratory studies have found that the
chemical is similar to estrogen, and could be
linked to abnormalities in the mammary and
prostate glands and the eggs of laboratory
animals, some scientists say.
However, manufacturers of polycarbonate bottles
argue that almost 50 years’ of research has shown
that polycarbonate bottles are safe for use.
Products using bisphenol A meet federal standards
and have been in widespread use for over 25 years,
says the American Plastics Council. The use of
polycarbonate in products that come in contact
with food is regulated for safety by the United
States Food and Drug Administration and
governmental bodies worldwide, adds the American
Plastics Council.
Many parents are scared to give babies glass
bottles because the bottles can break when dropped
or thrown from a high chair, and are heavier for
babies to hold.
BY OUR PHARMA CORRESPONDENT
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