Bisphenol-A, in Clear English

If you’re an expectant parent, your shopping list will be huge. My advice, from long-ago experience, is to start buying all of baby’s paraphernalia, in bite-size chunks, as soon as news of conception has been confirmed.

Now, there’s one more question to consider as you assemble your list. Glass bottles or plastic bottles?

Bisphenol-A is a chemical used to make clear, hard plastics, including plastic baby bottles. Plastic containers that have bisphenol-A are usually stamped “No. 7.” You may also see a “PC” stamp. No, it doesn’t stand for that PC. It means “polycarbonate.”

Here is what we know about polycarbonate plastics containing bisphenol-A. The National Toxicology Program, a federal chemical research program, has released a draft study stating there is “some concern” that low-level exposure to bisphenol-A leads to neural and behavioral impacts in unborn babies, infants, and small children. Other possible impacts include early onset of puberty in girls, and impacts on the prostate and mammary glands.

“Some concern” is not a casual phrase. Scientists don’t do casual when writing reports. “Some concern” is a carefully defined midpoint of a five-step spectrum ranging from “negligible” to “serious” concern.

Infants and kids ingest more bisphenol-A than adults because, pound for pound, the little ones eat, drink, and breathe more.

“The possibility that bisphenol-A may alter human development cannot be dismissed,” the study said carefully. We need more research, the experts added.

Canada’s federal health agency may go further. The conservative government of PM Stephen Harper has proposed banning polycarbonate baby bottles and to list bisphenol-A as a toxic substance, among other steps. On Saturday, Health Canada opened a 60-day comment period on the proposal.

As often occurs, the market is moving ahead of the bureaucrats. North of the border, the Hudson’s Bay retailing chain has announced it is stocking up on baby products free of the chemical. In the U.S., Wal-Mart will stop selling baby bottles containing bisphenol-A next year. Target has begun offering glass baby bottles. Nalgene Outdoor Products will stop using the chemical for its popular plastic water bottles.

So, as an expectant parent, what are you to make of all this? Forgive the brief dive into political philosophy, but “prudence” is one of the cardinal conservative virtues. It is imprudent to tinker with the marvelous biochemistry that governs human growth and development. Children utterly dependent on our decisions deserve the highest degree of cautious judgment.

In announcing its proposed ban on polycarbonate baby bottles, Canada’s conservative government said the step might be taken in order “to be prudent.”

In other words, until we know more, spending a little extra on baby products that don’t contain bisphenol-A sounds like the prudent thing to do.