Recently, Clean Calgary Association has received inquiries about the safe use of plastic packaging and plastic bottles. Plastic is a very useful packaging material which can help to mitigate transportation emissions and costs; however there are health risks associated with plastics. Consumers may mitigate these risks by learning to identify which type of plastic they are using. Simply turn the item upside down and look for the recycling symbol. The number, ranging from 1-7 , in the middle of the recycling symbol, tells you which number (resin code) of plastic you have. Clean Calgary Association recommends people avoid heating food in plastic, freezing food in plastic and long term food storage in plastic especially if the plastics are #3 (PVC), #6 (PS) or #7 (PC) due to the leaching of BPA and other environmental concerns.

According to the National Geographic’s Green Guide even though “#1 PETE is one of the most commonly recycled types, there are no containers designed for re-use made from it, and one should never re-use single-use #1 plastic bottles because their design doesn't lend itself to proper cleaning and the bottles can harbor bacterial growth.” If you are looking for “safer”, reusable plastics, try using #2 (HDPE), #4 (LDPE) or #5 (PP) for which most research has not shown leaching of any carcinogens or endocrine disruptors. Non-plastic, reusable alternatives include glass or metal containers. For more information, please contact Lindsay.

Q:
Ashley,

We are currently feeding our 5 month old son out of Avent baby bottles. There are no labels on the bottles indicating which types of plastics are used in them.  First, do you know how we could find out what grade of plastic we are using? Secondly, do you know of a better bottle alternative?   

Thanks!  
Jason
 
A:
 
Hello Jason,
 
Having just received the news that Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) has pulled several brands of plastic water bottles last week, I was elated to receive your question. And while I won't be discussing water bottles directly, the same precautions apply as many baby bottles and water bottles are made from the same materials. So what's all the commotion around plastic drinking bottles these days?
 
The problem is that an alarming number of studies have found that bisphenol-A (BPA) – the monomer used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics (#7) - leaches into products and disrupts hormonal function. While industry groups, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the American Chemistry Council are quick to defend such products, maintaining that the levels of BPA leaching into food products are well below the safety thresholds set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), dozens of other studies have found that exposure to BPA raises the risk of several cancers, interferes with fertility and may contribute to childhood behavioural problems like hyperactivity.
 
The most striking proclamation comes from a comprehensive literature review of BPA by vom Saal and Hughes, published in the August 2005 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, which found that the source of the funding determined whether or not BPA was found to have negative health impacts or not. The authors discovered that industry funded studies, 11 in all, found no harmful effects from BPA, while 90 percent of government-funded studies, 104 in total, found harmful effects. It would seem that these conflicting studies, many of which are gobbled up and distorted by the media, have prolonged the debate, creating great confusion amongst the public. The good news is that there are alternatives.
 
Evenflo manufactures tempered glass baby bottles that are completely inert, non-toxic and recyclable, making them an ideal substitute to polycarbonate. It may even be possible to find glass bottles secondhand. Alternatively, Gerber, Evenflo and Medela make polypropylene (#5) bottles that are manufactured without BPA and have not been found to leach potential hormone disruptors.
 
As for your Avent bottles, it would seem that many of them are indeed polycarbonate. The company states on its website that it is aware of public concerns over BPA but maintains that their products are completely safe, siting several of the studies that downplay the health concerns. Because you're dealing with a young one, I would err on the side of caution and look to one of the alternatives mentioned above.
 
Finally, now that you've gone to all the hassle to avoid BPA, try to avoid using polyvinyl chloride (PVC /vinyl/#3) nipples, as they can leach phthalates and adipates, both of which are linked to reproductive harm and liver cancers in mice. Clear silicone or latex bottle nipples are widely available and make fine alternatives.
 
As with many other things, applying the precautionary principle can at least give you some peace and mind while the 'experts' continue to argue over the findings.
 
Kind regards,
 
Ashley

 

Ashley Lubyk, BSC in Environmental Science, formerly a Calgary Materials Exchange Program Assistant at Clean Calgary Association.

 

Please send your question concerning Water, Waste, or Recycling to Ashley Lubyk

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