Baby Bottles chemical BPA to remain in UK

March 14, 2009 by Baby Chums
Filed under: Baby Health, News, Product News

Baby bottles manufacturers in the US have finally caved into consumer pressure and are to remove a controversial chemical from their products, Bisphenol A (BPA).
baby_feeding_from_bottle
Canada formally declared BPA a hazardous substance in 2008 and announced plans to ban the importation or sale of bottles containing the chemical.

In the UK however manufacturers will continue selling bottles containing BPA.

Food Standards Agency representatives insist that BPA in UK plastic products is, “Well below the levels considered harmful”.

Growing public concern has arisen about the potential effects of BPA seeping into a babies feed when the bottles are heated. Exeter University researchers found that adults with high levels of BPA in their system were more prone to diabetes and heart disease.

Dr Iain Lang, lead of the study, said: “There is not enough to provide us with the evidence to say there is definitely a link, there is definitely something going on.”

The advice currently given to parents is not to pour boiling liquid directly into bottles, not to microwave them or use scratched or worn ones.

Dr Iain Lang continued saying: “But in addition to some of the previous work that has been done looking at younger children and looking at animals this does increase the likelihood that there are problems associated with BPA.”