A baby bottle to grow on
One of the more inspiring companies I visited with at the Green Festival in San Francisco last weekend was Green to Grow, a Los Angeles-based maker of bisphenol A-free baby bottles.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical unknown to most shoppers, but it’s a component of a polycarbonate plastic that comprises most clear baby bottles on the market today. Environmental studies have shown that BPA can disrupt neurological and reproductive hormones in children, causing illnesses such as attention deficit disorder and early onset puberty. Separately, researchers have shown that the toxicant, under pressure from heat and kitchen cleaning brushes, can leach out from the plastic into the bottle.
As a result, several baby bottle manufacturers, including Gerbers and Playtex, face a class-action lawsuit in Los Angeles over use of BPA. San Francisco has even proposed a ban on the sale of child-care products and toys that contain BPA.
Shelley Aronoff, vice president of Green to Grow and a research librarian by trade, said she co-founded the nascent company with her husband because she wanted something better for her young son. The Aronoffs developed a bottle with poly(ether sulfone), or PES, a plastic used for medical and food applications. It’s flame retardant, yet not porous; and it can withstand repeated high-heat washing.
“While the FDA figures out what the acceptable levels of BPA should be, we as parents have decided that it should be zero,” Aronoff said.
The company started selling its bottles two weeks ago at its site online and in select stores in Los Angeles, according to Aronoff. Bottles start at $7.99. Plus, the site has an education center that offers parents pointers on how to green a newborn’s nursery or watch out for other children’s health issues.