原文: Is Your Baby's Bottle Safe?

I've done my due diligence in researching this important question and can confidently report to you: the definitive returns are not yet in and it's just not clear and no one really knows.

On one side, in 2007 the FDA wrote it has "confidence that no safety concern exists for BPA in regulated food contact materials. Furthermore, the FDA has determined that the use of polycarbonate-based baby bottles and BPA-based epoxy coated cans used to hold infant formula is safe."

Others beg to differ, albeit with weak evidence and mostly on theoretical grounds. While everyone agrees that BPA has negative effects on laboratory animals, what isn't known is whether humans - especially very young humans - might be more (or less) susceptible to those effects. For that reason, the National Toxicology Program (part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) disagreed with the FDA and recently opined: "The possibility that bisphenol A may alter human development cannot be dismissed."

And so - as often is the case - we are left to decide what to do with incomplete and conflicting evidence. Perhaps the small amounts of these compounds in our bodies will turn out to be harmless. Or perhaps not. Or perhaps we are focusing on the wrong chemicals, and it's really some new, as yet unrecognized, environmental exposure that will prove to be the real bad guy.


Now that I've made you both paranoid and confused (my specialty), where do we go from here? The easy answer, of course, is to say: if the risks are unknown, why not just eliminate them and protect our kids from even the remote possibility of harm?

I have to admit, I generally subscribe to this view. But I also worry that hysteria about something that may prove to be non-toxic could lead to problems of its own (the all important "Law of Unintended Consequences"). Like what? Perhaps a spate of glass bottle injuries. Or the introduction of a new kind of super-duper material for baby bottles that, in 20 years, will be shown to be worse news.

Still, on this one it seems prudent to play it safe. After all, aside from the cost, what is the downside of going green? So here's my advice:

• Avoid polycarbonate bottles containing PBA and phthalates by using glass bottles.
  
• When picking bottle liners or plastic containers, use polypropylene/polyethylene (#5 plastic which is opaque), not hard, shiny or tinted (#7) polycarbonate plastic.
  
• Look for "PBA-free" and "Phthalate-free" on cans and bottles. You'll be seeing this more now that consumers are demanding it.
  
• Avoid plastic/vinyl teethers for your infant to chew on.
  
• Avoid heating foods in plastic containers (which may increase the leaching of the PBA). Instead, use glass or ceramic containers.
  
• Wash all plastic containers with a sponge, by hand, with a mild dishwashing soap (not in the dishwasher and not with an abrasive sponge which scratches the plastic off).
  
• Learn how to read the "ingredients" of plastics. No-nos include abbreviations such DBP and DEP (phthalates sometimes found in shampoos and baby powders!), DEHP, DMP. DEHP.
  
• Avoid using any plastic bottles with cracks or cloudiness.
  
• Choose foods packaged in cardboard "brick" cartons. When you can, eat fresh, locally-grown foods in season and save the canned foods for convenience or emergencies
  
• Can your own fruits and vegetables in safe glass jars.

Will this extra caution prove to be helpful?. Really, I have no idea. But, at this stage of the game, it seems a reasonable bet to make.

Related Topics:

• FDA Eyes Bisphenol A Concerns
• Hot Liquid Ups BPA From Plastic Bottles

Technorati Tags: bisphenol A, BPA, polycarbonate, plastic bottles, baby bottles

译文: 你的婴儿奶瓶安全吗？

      这是一个令人难以忘怀的画面。

      一个漂亮的婴儿目不转睛地凝视着她的母亲，幸福地吸吮着一个奶瓶，同时吸收着维系生命的营养和母亲的爱。然而，在一部劣质的恐怖电影中，这样美好的场景出现一个可怕的转变，奶瓶忽然变得令人可怕，有毒物质正渐渐流入了依赖它的宝宝的口中。

      此刻你所读到内容实际是一场有关双酚-A（BPA）的争论。BPA这种物质常被用来制作塑料，使其耐用和光亮。在90%美国人体内都显示有BPA，毫无疑问它是这样进入体内的：BPA从聚碳酸酩塑料中少量释放出来，渗入我们的牛奶和罐头食品中。然而BPA是否有害？
我所描述的情景让人久久不能忘怀，而这仅是一小部分的原因，使我们很难去清醒地考虑最近的这场争论，同时作出公正的的判断：像婴儿奶瓶和婴儿食物盒之类的塑料器皿，是否会成为一种对健康的危害。
************

      我在付出了很大的努力去研究这个重要的问题后，肯定地告诉你们：这些问题都尚未有最后的定论，没人能真正地了解它。

      另一方面，在2007年，美国食品及药物管理局（简称FDA）在发表的文章中述说了他们“有信心认为，人们在日常食物中接触到塑料原料中的BPA并不存在安全之忧”

      而另一些人并不认同，尽管他们只有极少的证据并且通常只停留在理论范围。然而，所有人都认为BPA对试验室的动物是有负面作用的，但它是否会对人类有影响—尤其是幼儿是否会因为受其影响，而或多或少的因缺乏免疫力而得病呢。鉴于这些原因，美国毒物学中心（隶属于美国卫生和公共服务部）不赞同FDA及他们近来发表的观点：“双酚A有改变人类发展的可能性，所以不能被去除。”

      于是，在通常情况下，我们被迫依据不完善和相矛盾的证据做出决定。也许在我们体内少量的这种混合物所产生的东西是无害的，或许可能有害的。也许我们可能正观注于一些错误的化学制品，它们确实是新的，同时也是未被真正认识的，只有暴露在环境中后才会被检验出它们是有害的东西。

**********

      好了，现在我已经把你弄得既多疑又迷惑（我的专长）了，那我们的出路在哪里呢？这当然很容易回答：如果风险是未知的，那我们为什么不去消除它们，保护我们的孩子们远离这些伤害的可能性。

      我不得不承认、通常地都会赞同这种观点。但是我也会担忧那些我们歇斯底里发现并禁用的物质有可能被证明是无毒的，而这件事本身却导致了另一些问题（“非预期后果法则”尤为重要）。例如：可能引发一场对玻璃奶瓶的毁灭。或是又新出现一种制作婴儿奶瓶的“超级”材料，然而在20年后，又听到有关这种材料更加可怕的新闻。

      尽管如此，在这件事上我们还得谨慎行事，不去冒险。最后，撇开成本考虑，如何才能让我们的“小花朵们”健康地茁壮成长呢。以下是我的建议：

• 使用玻璃奶瓶时，避免含有PBA的聚碳酸酯以及邻苯二钾酸盐的奶瓶。
• 在取出奶瓶衬垫或塑料容器时，使用聚丙烯/聚乙烯（不透明的是#5塑料）不硬，无光泽或颜色（#7）的聚碳酸酯塑料。
• 寻找“无PBA”和“无邻苯二钾酸盐”的奶瓶或罐头。你会发现应消费者的要求，这些商品现在越来越多了。
• 避免使用塑料/乙烯基的出牙咬嚼器给你的宝宝咀嚼。
• 避免在塑料容器里加热食物（有些可能增加了PBA的过滤），取而代之地，使用玻璃或陶瓷的容器。
• 用海绵清洗所有的塑料容器，要用手洗，使用温和的餐盘清洗皂（不要用洗碗机，也不要使用会刮擦塑料的研磨海绵）
• 仔细查看塑料的“成份”。切忌选用含有如BBP、DEP、DEHP，DMP，DEHP等缩写成分的塑料制品。
• 避免使用任何有裂纹或是颜色发暗的塑料瓶。
• 选择用纸盒包装的食物。如果有可能，食用新鲜的、本地生长的当季食物，只在为了方便或紧急情况时才用罐头保存食物。
• 把你自有的水果蔬菜放到安全可靠的玻璃广口瓶中。

      以上这些额外的提示是否能被证实有帮助呢？事实上，我确实也没有好的意见。然而，在这场争论游戏中，看来还是很有理由为健康打赌一把的。

相关文章：

• FDA 观注双酚A的利害关系
• 加热塑料瓶中的液体而产生的BPA
•   分类标签：双酚A，BPA，聚碳酸酯，塑料瓶，婴儿奶瓶