Kristie McNealy, MD

Last week, Canada announced that it was moving forward with drafting regulations to ban the importation, advertising and sale of polycarbonate baby bottles containing bisphenol A (BPA), as well as reducing the amount of BPA released into the environment.  This move will make Canada the first country in the world to regulate BPA.

At the same time, newly published research which examined all published research through July 2008, found no consistent evidence of reproductive or developmental effects of bisphenol A at typical human exposure levels.

So, who do we listen to?  Is BPA dangerous or not?  If it is, how worried do we need to be?

I think the best answer is to take the “better safe than sorry” approach, and choose BPA free options for things babies and kids eat or drink out of, or put in their mouths regularly.  Don’t heat liquids in plastic containers containing BPA (or any plastic container at all if you can avoid it).  For everything else, take a step back and relax.  While a BPA free highchair tray is probably a reasonable investment, making sure every piece of hardware that holds the thing together probably isn’t necessary.

If you’re worried about having to spend a ton of money on special, BPA free bottles, cups and teething rings, don’t worry.  You don’t need to hunt down any super special boutique brands (unless you want to). There are a number of options available today in your typical big box stores which won’t break the bank.

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