Is it true that Avent will be introducing BPA-free bottles?

We use many Avent products, from baby bottles to nipples and sippy cups, to sterilizer, bottle heater, and even breast pump kit. It is the most popular brand here in Islamabad, found in every pharmacy and shops selling baby products. Although we stopped heating the baby’s milk, we still expose these bottles to heat when they’re sterilized. So not only was I disturbed to find out that Avent is one of the brands that contain BPA, but I was also disappointed that their website maintained that studies about the harmful effects of BPA on humans are inconclusive. Did they really think concerned parents will take a chance with their children’s health?

One blogger, (The Blog According to Buzz), called them “one of the worst offenders when it comes to BPA.” Zrecs referred to Philips Avent as the “most aggressive defenders of the safety of polycarbonate plastic and the largest producer of baby bottles in the United States …” The site also reported that the company will be introducing a BPA-free reusable bottle this summer, but I couldn’t find any other references supporting this news.

At any rate, I appreciate Zrecs providing a link to the Avent chart listing the materials used in their products. This confirms what I read in Yahoo Shine that Avent sippy cups are okay, because these are made of polypropylene. So here’s a photo of our bottles and sippy cups with their interchangeable nipples and spouts, one of the reasons why we like Avent. After I took this photo my husband decided that it was better to use the white rings with the nipple as well.

In the meantime, I also read an interview with David Feldman, the Stanford professor who first discovered (by accident) that BPA was leaching out of polycarbonate flasks back in 1993. My hunch was right, the company that made those polycarbonate flasks came up with lower levels of bisphenol A because their tests were not as sensitive as the Stanford biological tests.

At the end of his interview Prof. Feldman discussed how his findings changed some of his habits: using glass instead of plastic containers to microwave food, not washing plastic containers in dishwashers, limiting his consumption of canned foods, or at least washing them first.

I think we’ll do the same.