BPA? No way!

In case you've been living under a rock, the government has finally acknowledged what my wife and I (and a lot of our friends) have suspected for a while: Plastic is not the best material for storing food and drink.

A report by the National Toxicology Program, issued on April 15, finds that bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used to make baby bottles and other shatterproof plastic containers, could be linked to a range of hormonal problems.

According to the report, experiments on rats that were fed or injected with low doses of BPA suffered precancerous tumors, urinary tract problems and early puberty. As with any report, this one was fitted with this disclaimer: while the animal studies only provide "limited evidence" of BPA's developmental risks, the NTP stresses that the possible effects on humans "cannot be dismissed."

And of course, the group that represents BPA manufacturers (who include Dow and BASF) claims the report "affirms that there are no serious or high level concerns for adverse effects of bisphenol on human reproduction and development."

Maybe I'm being alarmist, but I refer to what I wrote about trace amounts of mercury in flu shots in December. Any amount is too much for me. Trust me, we didn't spend so much time researching organic crib mattresses just to stick a potentially dangerous pacifier in the baby's mouth.

For other parents who are looking for BPA-free baby products, this site is one of the best sources of I've found.