Chemical concerns push up sales of glass baby bottles

NEW YORK— Meg Robustelli had heard reports that a chemical in most plastic baby bottles could be dangerous, but she had not done anything about it. That's when her mother stepped in and bought her glass bottles.

"She's an alarmist, but I'm grateful," said Robustelli, whose daughter, Mia, is 14 months old. "I switched because of all the concerns about the plastic."

She made the change about six months ago, becoming one of a relatively small but growing number of parents turning to glass bottles amid concerns over a chemical used to make plastic bottles, bisphenol A.

"I wish I was using glass from the beginning, so I could have avoided any exposure," said Robustelli, of Stamford, Conn.

Bisphenol A, or BPA, is a manmade chemical used in polycarbonate plastic, the material used to make most baby bottles and other shatterproof plastic food containers. Americans are widely exposed to BPA, but opinions on its safety are mixed.

The Food and Drug Administration says current uses with food are safe. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says animal testing has shown that BPA has hormone-like effects on the reproductive system. The CDC says more study is needed to see if it could be harming people.

Some pediatricians advise families to use alternatives to polycarbonate bottles to be on the safe side.

"I can't assure parents that it's safe, and I would not use that for my own babies," said Dr. Alan Greene, a pediatrician and author of "Raising Baby Green." "There are a number of BPA-free bottles, and I also love glass bottles."

As parents turn to glass, manufacturers are responding with new versions of the old-fashioned favorite.

Babies "R" Us had a dramatic increase in glass bottle sales in the spring of 2007 and current sales are more than five times what they were a year ago, the company said, without releasing figures.

Dr. Brown's, which has been making a polycarbonate bottle for about a decade, introduced a glass version in early January because of customer demand, said Carolyn Hentschell, president of Handi-Craft Co./Dr. Brown's Natural Flow.

"If you're a mom and you have concerns (about BPA), here's an obvious choice," she said. "We don't want them to feel like they have to go to another baby bottle."

Evenflo, which has made glass bottles for the last 70 years, said sales shot up by more than 100 percent between 2006 and 2007, and continue to climb this year.