Yes, it was a scary year for baby gear. BPA in bottles, melamine in formula, lead in toys, and so on. So I thought I'd end the year with posting each and every frightening new find and of course, how you can (try to) avoid them.
Bisphenol-A
Plastic baby bottles, pacifiers, sippy cups and some baby spoons are made with polycarbonate, a hard plastic that has the potential to leak bisphenol A. BPA has been linked to hormone disruption, cancer, and possible neural and behavioral effects in infants and children.
Avoid It: Buy only baby bottles, pacifiers, sippy cups, and baby cutlery that says BPA-Free. If it doesn't say it, then it's not. Both Babies R Us and Walmart will stop carrying products made with BPA early next year, and many smaller baby stores have already stopped.
Melamine
Melamine-tainted infant formula was first found in China, making babies sick right and left. Then the FDA found trace amounts of it in infant formula in the USA, which of course was made in China. Melamine is a chemical found in plastic food packaging and in cleaning solutions and apparently got into the formula as a as a byproduct of manufacturing (just like everything in Chinese factories do). Melamine can cause life-threatening kidney failure.
Avoid It: Buy Earth's Best. It's produced in the United States under strict United States Food & Drug Administration regulations and continues to be made with dairy and soy ingredients sourced domestically, as it always has been. All of Earth's Best's products, including their baby foods, are likewise made in the USA with USA sourced ingredients.
Lead in toys
A lot of parents are obviously worried about the lead in baby and children's toys, and with good reason. Few materials hurt children as much as lead. It can delay intellectual development, cause children to behave aggressively, and aggravate health problems later in life. And it's popping up everywhere now, since most toys are made in China.
Avoid It: Go to HealthyToys.org for test results on more than 1,500 toys and children’s products. They test for other chemicals as well. The Green Guide suggest that you look for plastics made without PVC. It's usually identifiable by the number 3, often with the letters "PVC" or the word "vinyl" next to the recycling symbol.
Lead in baby bibs
Did you miss this story? Because it wasn't as big as the others. The Center for Environmental Health of Oakland, Calif., found lead as high as three times the level allowed in paint in several styles of the bibs purchased from both Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us stores in California. And that's not all. Wal-Mart recalled bibs as well after the discovery of lead in the fabrics.
Avoid It: Don't buy vinyl bibs or any bibs containing vinyl. Buy cotton bibs or terry cloth bibs ONLY and check the tag to make sure they do not contain any materials called “polyvinyl chloride”, “vinyl”, or “PVC”.
0 comments:
Post a Comment