It's crazy to think that all this time we have been exposed to BPA but until this recent spur in interest over it, it was brushed under the rug. Our lives are consumed by BPA. It is in fillings in our teeth, it lines the metal in our canned foods, and in our plastic food containers. It is scary to know that BPA is found in most baby bottles and sippy cups. There are many new companies coming out with BPA free bottles though. As far as plastic drinking bottles for adults go, Camelbak has always been BPA free and Nalgene and REI are coming out with a BPA-free lines, too.

Does anyone have any advice for those of us who purchase filtered water at grocery stores using the reusable 3 and 5 gallon jugs with #7 on them? I looked to buy new ones, and they all seem to be made with polycarbonate #7.

I am having the hardest time eliminating plastic from my life (or at least from my kitchen, which is where I'm starting), because I live with my mother and she just thinks all of this is a bunch of hype. We all grew up with plastic and we're all just fine, right? Except everyone in my family is overweight, which can be a side effect of something mimicing estrogen in our systems.
How do I get my mom on board with this? Any suggestions?
As for the water thing, pp, I would just buy a water filter and start drinking tap. Its cheaper and better for the environment and your health all around.

How should we dispose of our #7 bottles we have? Recycle them? Here I have been drinking from mine thinking I was doing good using a reuseable bottle and now......

I've used natural/safe products since 1971 and have been in Tupperware for 18 years. They are the highest quality in the world. They do have some bpa products but will replace the bpa as needed, I'm sure. They have always been about safe plastic and stood behind the customer because their sales force consists of moms,mostly.None of their kids products have bpa, they have a gallon pitcher and water bottle also bpa free.

I recently bought myself a Sig metal water bottle, and I love it. My kids use hdpe water bottles to take water to school. That's the opaque plastic. Is that still considered safe? I would splurge and buy all 3 of them metal bottles, but they lose everything, and if what they currently use is fine, I'd just as soon stick with that.

What happened to good ole glass?
I have written most of the organic food companies to please put their tomato products in glass. Please join in and write them a note asking them to use glass.

Are Sigg bottles considered "safe"?

I have heard that #2 and #6 are bad too. Is that right?

"Hard, translucent plastic marked #7 is probably polycarbonate"

That is not necessarily true. None of Camelbak's products have BPA and they all meet this misleading description. Consumers should check with individual manufacturer's and not fall for blanket scare tactics.

Lots of bad informations and consequences known, but, there are certainly neutralizing substances for it. Do anyone know how to get rid of it apart from avoiding? We accumulated lots of BPA in the body from years of ignorance...

Does anyone know anything about BPA found in sealants used for teeth? My son's pediatric dentist wants to use sealants and I'm concerned.

Polycarbonate is clear like water, transparent.

A gallon of milk usually comes in a polyethylene bottle. It's sort of milky looking, that's translucent.

Should I assume, as the one picture attachd to the top of this article is a Nalgene product, that all Nalgene bottles contain Bisphenol A?

You can buy #1 plastic 5 gallon jugs. Deep Rock and Eldorado are two companies that I know sells #1 five gallon jugs.

I contacted Enviro Products about the 11 polycarbonate bottles I purchased from them last year. (Do the there promise of "non-leaching") They continue to say that there bottles are safe. I purchased them so I could keep cold water in the fridge without buying bottled water. What a waste of money. I have stopped using the bottles because I trust EWG and I feel the company should offer a refund or to replace at least some of the bottles with there stainless steel bottles due to the controversy. Any suggestions or help available?

Brynda,
If you work for or sell a brand of plastics please disclose that. If not, why are you shilling for them? "they will replace the bpa as needed?" What does that mean? Any half decent company that cared about its customers would have recalled all its bpa years ago, as soon as the danger was known. A really decent company would have done its own research and never produced any. We need to demand passage of a bill basing all product sales on the Precautionary Principle--guilty until proven innocent--and mandate testing in combination with other materials for synergistic effects. There is no excuse for the kind of corporate and corporate government action seen over bpa and other poisons, and both civil and criminal actions should also be pursued.

My baby gets very windy on normal bottles and responds really well to the Dr Brown's venting system. I've manged to fit the system onto the Green To Grow 10z regular bottle (you have to trim the vent stem a little) but I'm wondering if anyone knows if there is BPA in the venting system plastic? Thanks.

What about the cheap plastic cooking utensils we use? Most of them are not marked so we don't know what kind of plastic they are made of. I threw all of mine away and bought wood or silicone for my no stick pans that I occasionally use.

I have bought several, sturdy 1 gallon glass jugs off the internet for incredibly cheap. Not quite as convenient as 3 to 5 gallon bottles, but at least you can trust it not to leech anything mysterious.

http://www.freundcontainer.com

I use soy candles and soy tealights for my tart melter. Those little candles come in polycarbonate plastic containers because they are heat resistant, etc. They are obviously heated in use. What about BPA in the air? Or, when I touch the candles in handling (hot or cooled)?

Also, my kids wear eyeglasses out of polycarbonate lenses - Any risk there?

Sigg is a great reusable water bottle; you can get them for both hot and cold drinks. Pyrex is an excellent alternative to plastic in the kitchen for food storage.

Sigg: www.mysigg.com
Pyrex: www.pyrex.com

I started a little research on BPA in canned food recently & the information has just been pouring in, thanks in large measure I'm sure to EWG's work. I plan to survey some companies about their canned foods to protect my family, but meanwhile at http://organicgrace.com/node/316 you can find some listings on what specific companies say about BPA in their cans. The posted info has the limitation that it's voluntarily company-provided, so it depends on the company both having accurate information and telling the truth. Sorry, but I worked in consumer frauds & protection for a long time and always tend to be skeptical. But that web page is a start. If I can find time for my survey I'll pass along any results that I get.

We live in San Clemente and our family buys water from a local water vendor (filtered, reverse osmosis, etc.) and they just began carrying the old school GLASS 5 gallon bottles!!! I'm so excited.

I think it's making a comeback!!! Look around and call your water sources, keep asking for glass!

I made the switch to glass water bottles and containers a few years ago, and it seems that more and more non-plastic alternatives are available everyday. I purchased my three gallon bottles where I buy water, but I'm sure they're available online if you can't get them locally. They're heavy and breakable, but I'd rather deal with that than plastic.

I definitely don't trust carbon filters for making tap water safe to drink and home distillation and reverse osmosis units are pretty pricey. I'd love to have one someday, but for now spending a couple dollars on filling my glass bottles weekly is much more doable.

As far as "safe" plastic goes, I don't think it exists. Plastic is, by definition, chemicals. A lot of companies are in the process of removing BPA from their products, but who knows what else they contain that will be deemed harmful in five or ten years? I'd rather not take the chance when safe alternatives are readily available.

Find a store that caters to do-it-yourself wine and beer makers. They will have inexpensive glass bottles. I think I got mine from OakBarrel, 1443 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA

With regards to disposal of #7 plastics, that #7 does denote that it is recyclable. However, that is a plastic that some municipalities do not have the ability to recycle. Contact the local recycling center in your area for advice on where to recycle rather than toss.

To Catherine, Dr. Browns makes a glass bottle. I believe it is the same system as the plastic version, just glass. I just bought two of them a couple of weeks ago and I am going to get more. I am in the process of eliminating the plastic baby bottles. Evenflo also make the standard bottles in glass. I just purchased those to use for storing my breastmilk. The are really inexpensive. The Dr. Browns were $12.99 for two and the Evenflo was $4.99 for three. Both were purchased at Babies R Us. It is such a shame that I am just hearing about all of this. I am finding out about a lot of harmful products that companies are making and they are so defensive about it, especially baby products. As if we are wrong for being concerned about the health of our families! It is also a shame that most of the companies who make "environmentally friendly products" charge so much more. It makes it hard for low income families to be able to afford them.

Everywhere I look, I see plastic. There was even a commercial today from a pipe company extolling the virtues of their PVC pipes, such as drinking water pipes. I have been drinking purified water for years, but I purchase it in plastic jugs- luckliy they are #2. It just makes me wonder if this is the root of all cancers. Plastics, pesticides, & pollution. The 3 evil P's!!! Many years ago, I had sealants put on my kids' teeth- thinking I was doing a good thing preventing all the cavities, fillings, & crowns in their futures! My youngest also used the Avent bottles after I stopped breast feeding. You try your best to do what you can for your children's health, then years later find out about these things. It is very disheartening to say the very least. I now have a concern about my coffee maker & iced tea maker. They are both made of plastic with metal bases & are used to HEAT up water!!! I have been looking around for replacements, but all I see is PLASTIC!! What's more, by coffee & tea makers were made in China, where all the "bad" stuff is made! I am just horrified. Go to your grocery store & just take a look at all the plastic. Even paper cartons may contain dangerous liners. It is overwhelming. Can you imagine the hit that big business would take if we were to eliminate plastic from everything??? It just won't happen because of the almighty dollar. I guess all we can do is try our best. Take care, all of you!

Becky (& everyone still held slaves to the bottled water thing),

I think we in the "developed world" (I live in Canada) have to go back
to drinking the water from the taps. We need to hold our local,
state/provincial and federal governments responsible our safe drinking
water rather than wasting fuel, time and money hauling
questionably-better store-bought water.

Be a part of the revolution.

Be a part of the market-force that insists that water in our countries
(and by example others) remains affordable, accessible and available
to all.

Oppose privitization of our (and all) water systems by opting out.
(Anyway, isn't that where the severe water-bourne illness in Ontario
happened? In the unsupervised private sector?)

But most importantly, let's all drink water from our taps! Let's
filter it at the source if needed. (Vancouver's is currently
chlorinated and the pipes are old and are slowly being replaced so it
does taste better using a filter.) That way we won't have to worry
about the BPA in the bottles from the grocery store or wherever.

Nalgene has a water bottle that's white plastic that is a #2. I'm told it's a safe plastic for reuseable water bottles.

Does anyone have information on the most safe material for use in new-home construction for water systems?
Thanks!

I am trying to remove BPA from our home, but the two hardest things are canned foods and storage containers. We drink bottled water, except for what is to be boiled while cooking and even that is from our fridge which is filtered. The bottled water is in the #s that are supposed to be safe. I am more cautious of what is in our tap water than what BPA will do to us. You should definitely make sure your city water is safe before forgoing the bottled water.

What about the plastics that don't have numbers on them? Is there any general rule for those? Like sippy cups, plastic utensils, plastic cooking utensils, storage containers? I can't afford to throw out all of this stuff and get glass, and I have a clumsy husband and a toddler, so glass is not always a safe option for us.

I recently bought a " Corntainer" from a health food store and was surprised to see that it had the number 7 on the bottom. It doesn't say that it is BPA free but thought that being sold at a health food store would be safe. What's you thoughts on these corntainers?

About safe water filter systems. I too use a good water filter system for my whole house, but am disappointed that it doesn't remove fluoride. I'm currently looking into ionized electrolysis water. Not sure it removes fluoride, but it gives the water a quality that helps the body be stronger and healthier. If you want to know more check out LevelLuk SD at www.enagic.com I believe this activated water helps protect our bodies from all the pollutants we are exposed to. You can also google the terms: kangen water ionizers, as there are many brand options, I have not checked them all yet. Ionized water is an approved medical device in Japan, so it sounds interesting.

Jeff,choosing my words was difficult because I can not speak for the company, but I do know they said they are continuously researching new materials. Their testing has shown that the levels of bpa fall way below what is considered safe in a number of countries. Everytime you take a breath or eat, you will consume toxic substances, so you can create a lot of anxiety trying to stay clean and pure(which I have been trying to do for over 35 years!)I am not promoting their bpa products,but responding to Becky's request for advice about safe products. Are you eating pesticides? How do you decide which poisons you are going to allow??

I agree with Karen that water should not be privatized, as it is being done practically everywhere in the US. But in reality, the controllers in our gov't (local & national) do not really care for the welfare of its citizens as they become the major share holders for these so-called privatized utilities; offering us chemically treated water instead of just good old fashion filtered water.

I am trying to rid my home of BPAs but are MOST concerned w/baby items for my 7 month old. Are the Playtex latex nipples BPA free? Also now we are feeding her baby food and should we be avoiding the Gerber food in #7 "other" plastic containers EVEN IF we don't heat them up?? Help!What about all those CHEW toys?? How does one know if they are BPA free???

Man, you all have some great questions! Many of them are already answered here. I'm working to find answers to others.

Kristen, latex nipples are BPA-free. Gerber's #7 plastic baby food containers are also BPA free (I believe is was the SafeMama team that dug up that info).

As for teethers, Zrecs and The Soft Landing are both great resources.

Is number 1 the best plastic to drink from? I have several number 5 plastic cups. Are they considered safe to use?

The 'danger' of bottles with BPA is not as great as suggested here. The way any problem was discovered was in a cancer lab at a prominent university. The animal care workers had switched to a super harsh detergent to clean the mouse polycarb cages. The scientists over a period of time, began to notice some genetic alterations, namely aneuploidy, occuring in the mice offspring. They determined this to be from the breakdown of the poly carb due to the high water temps and harsh cleaning chemicals. This was the published paper that started it all. The point is that the BPA in plastics is safe FOR SURE for people and kids who are not pregnant. Our DNA, when not during development, is not subject to aneuploidy. Pregnant women are safe to use the bottles as well, as long as the bottles are not cleaned in a way that is harsh enough to degrade the polycarb. IN other words, if you have nalgenes, just rinse them to clean them, dont use harsh detergents and if the bottles start to get cloudy then throw them away. Again, for non pregnant people there is no danger of ingesting BPA, save for the very rare case of a person with metabolic disorders. I am a molecular biologist at the University of California, Riverside.

I know of a person who used baby bottles in the microwave for reheating until she heard of bpa and tossed the bottle away. how serious of a health risk is that and should she worry?

I e-mailed Cuisinart and asked them to confirm whether or not my coffee maker had BPA parts. They confirmed that it did. Now I'm looking at stainless steel percolators. Aaaarggh.

Amy,
#1 is safe for single use
#2,4,5 are safe
#3,6 are unsafe
#7 could be unsafe if it's polycarbonate, but unfortunately, 7 can mean other safe plastics, too.

Has anyone given a thought to their kettle used for boiling water? most are made of plastic and what type???

I am looking for a BPA free pitcher in either a 2 quart or gallon size. Glass is not Practical for me since I have a small child and the fear of dropping it and having glass everywhere. What about the clear silicone bottle nipples? Are they safe?

There are some good plastics guides out there re human health effects and other env factors like recyclability, manufacturing process, and natural resources. one I like is from the OR Env Council. It's here: http://tinyurl.com/5ofbhr.

The you can decide which factors are most important to you.

Any information out there about mouthguards and BPA - I am pregnant and am worried wearing one night could be a problem.

Thanks!

Hi Heather and all!

I just found this wonderful Environblog site!!

I know your question was from several months ago - hope info about recycling codes and safety may still be of interest.

Here's some info about a water pitcher that's BPA free. And info about definition of the recycling codes on plastic and that #7 doesn't necessarily mean it's BPA free.

PLASTIC, LIGHT-WEIGHT PITCHER W/O BPA
- Shaklee BestWater Pitcher
...First I want to let you know that I have a Health and Wellness home-based business as a Shaklee Distributor. However, I encourage you to locate any Shaklee distributor in your area if you don't already know of one. Or you can order online from my Website or from Shaklee direct. Here is what I can tell you about the Shaklee BestWater filter pitchers and all Shaklee plastic containers:

- The BestWater Pitcher is not coded as recycle #7.
- This pitcher does not contain BPA (bisphenol-A).
- The pitcher is designed to last quite a long time (several years) using high impact polystyrene (#6), so the need for bottles is reduced over the life time of the product.
- And the filters are made of polypropylene, which is a commonly recycled plastic (#5).
- The BestWater products have been certified by NSF International for materials of construction.
- The formulation of each material that contacts the untreated and treated water are evaluated by NSF's toxicology department. They instruct the analytical lab on which chemicals to analyze in the static extraction test. They test without media to rule out the possibility that the absorptive media may reduce any contaminants generated in the unit.
- The BestWater products have passed the static extraction test with and without media.

OTHER SHAKLEE PRODUCT PACKAGING
- Additionally, all of the product lines within Shaklee follow Shaklee’s Commitment to BPA-Free Packaging.
- As always, Shaklee’s first commitment is to product safety and, as such, product packaging has long been free of plastics that might contain the potential toxin bisphenol A. Today, you can rest assured that all Shaklee products are packaged in BPA-free materials.

NOTE ABOUT #7 PLASTIC
- The #7 recycling symbol is a “catch all” number.
- When a plastic is labelled with this number it typically means there are more than one type of plastic used.
- Sometimes there is BPA in it. Sometimes there isn’t.
- Researchers suggest avoiding #7 since there is no way to know if there is BPA in it or not unless you speak directly to the company.
(Source: SafeMama.com) This is a great Web site for lots of info. There may be information about plastic baby bottle nipples, I haven't looked for that type of information.

ADD'L NOTE
- All plastics that do not already fall into categories 1 through 6 must be designated with the “other” marking, which is #7.
- These categories are required by law in 39 states on certain types of containers.
- #7 is often the container of choice for reusable plastic water and baby bottles.
- In addition, any container made from multi-layered or mixed materials – even when the layers are made from #1 through #6 materials – must also be marked with the #7 for “multi-layered materials.”
(Source: Earth911.com)

Hope this helps ... Enjoy your day always! ~Maryann

how do we know if the supposed number 7 plastics with bpa and other chemical are not being recycled with safter plastics and put back on on the market as safer

Great question ... and that's the issue I face with my shopping choices ... I try to vote for safer choices with my spending $$.

#7 is the "multi-layer" catch-all and can have chemicals we don't want transferred to our foods. I do call places that package foods I spend my $$ on and ask them about the new information about #7.

I can't avoid some of it. I certainly don't store foods in my house in plastics - I use clear glass (they do have plastic lids). I also don't reheat as much in the microwave in even glass - back to simmering on the stove, using the toaster oven, and basically cooking on the stovetop (stir "frying" veggies in a little olive oil), .... eating lots of raw veggies and fruits (high nutrition).

My personal opinion is that overly processed, packaged, in a box/can groceries, and overcooked food is not my first choice - back to basics for as close to "natural" nutrition is what an allergist once told me. ~Maryann