Beware Of The Bottle: Risks Of Early Puberty And Breast Cancer Accompany

With bisphenol A detected in many popular brands of baby bottles the risks accompanying bottle feeding babies have increased all the more, with new dangers coming to the fore, like the onset of early puberty and higher risk of breast cancerdefine in bottle fed babies.

The fear of development of these ailments in plastic bottle fed babies, as expressed by toxologists is mainly due to the presence of harmful chemicals in them.

Plastic bottles are made up of polycarbonates which contain bisphenol A. Bisphenol A is a compound that is known to fall in the category of oestrogenic compounds. These compounds mimic oestrogen in the body and by doing so they are able to affect the cellular activity in the body, resulting in the serious ailments like breast cancerdefine, in the long run.

As per Professor Ian Shaw the small size of the babies is what puts them at a greater risk, when exposed to oestrogenic compounds. This is because; since they are small they tend to get a higher dose of the chemical, thus resulting in adverse effects.

"If it's a bottle, they are also sucking on it every day for six months or so. If you are erring on the side of caution, you shouldn't be exposing children to them," he added.

Researchers and toxologists are mainly concerned about the lack of information on the harmful effects of BPA, especially in countries which follow low manufacturing standards and thus use of oestrogenic compounds is done on a large scale.

Shaw feels a review of information standards of these compounds needs to be done at the earliest. He also told the media persons that scientists are already conducting detailed research on the consequences and effects of these chemicals.

However, despite the fact that plastic baby bottles containing BPA have been banned in Canada among other countries like New Zealand which are gaining a cautious approach to these products and awareness about their harmful effects is spreading fast; the plastics Authority member, Dr. Peter Plimmer expressed his confidence in the plastic bottles, by saying that he would not hesitate to feed one of the children in his family in a plastic bottle.

With effects so adverse it is important that the government, public, manufacturers and the concerned authorities take concrete steps in the right direction, after all, in jeopardy here is the health of millions of infants, not only in the present, but the future too.