Once again, the government has failed to protect the youngest citizens. Yesterday, it was announced that the most common baby bottles may be dangerous. The baby bottles in question are made of hard, clear plastic made with Bisphenol A, also called BPA. Heating a BPA bottle increases the amount of leaching, which is a common practice for warming breastmilk or formula in a bottle. Babies and young children are most at risk from the leaching effects of BPA. According to a CNN article (courtesy of the Web Savant), “Rachel Gibson, a lawyer for Los Angeles-based Environment California, said the laboratory tests on bottles from all five brands – Avent, Dr. Brown’s, Evenflo, Gerber and Playtex (Charts) – were found to leach bisphenol A at amounts known to harm animals in laboratory animal studies.” Environment California Research and Policy Center conducted the independent test on baby bottles. “Parents cannot be expected to deal with these issues on their own,” said Gibson. “California must act to assist parents and ensure that products on the market are not potentially harmful for children.” Click here for more information from Environment California about baby bottles. A report from San Francisco television station KTVU can be obtained here. For additional information on Ecochildsplay, please visit our previous posts “San Francisco Bans Certain Plastic Toys” and “Finally, A Safe Sippy Cup”. The best alternatives are stainless steep sippy cups for toddlers made by Klean Kanteen (available through Amazon or Reusablebags.com) and glass baby bottles. The potential dangers of plastic baby bottles reminds us that the breast is best for our children.