First Topic- Bisphenol A (BPA)

So there's much debate out there on the internets and mainstream press about whether or not the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) poses a health risk when/if it leaches from baby bottles, food-can linings (including resins that line forumal cans), and other plastics that come into contact with foods or drinks. Some say it does some say it doesn't- a quick review of Google News results for BPA highlights both sides of the debate (although the critics of BPA seem to be getting more press time these days...)

Anyway, although I know some don't agree, we've decided to minimize BPA in our house. It's been hard to research the best way to do this with an infant who needs bottles and a toddler who breaks glasses, but here's what we came up with:

• No baby bottles with BPA in them, which required a bit of a financial sacrifice since ALL of our bottles from Boy #1 were Avent, which have the "hard clear" plastic that causes BPA concerns. Instead, we are using Born Free, which, apart from a weird yellow tint and an extra valve piece to wash, are a reasonable, if pricey substitute. Other BPA-free bottles we've found include the Mam Ultivent, and the tempered glass Evenflo. (If we used glass, I think we'd add the Siliskin for extra protection). For milk storage we are using Medela bottles, which are also BPA free.
• No microwaving in plastic- that means take out containers or reusable plastics. We either use our regular dishes (ceramic) or glass containers. My favorites are the Frigoverre, but that could be because I'm Italian!
• For the toddler, we use BPA-free options if we are going to be storing and/or carrying along drinks. We are using (and loving) the new Thermos Foogo thermoses, (is that redundant?) which also have the advantage of keeping drinks cold for a long time. We are using the straw version, but they also have a sippy cup version. We also have some Sigg bottles (that's what I use for myself), but Boy #1 finds the spout a little more difficult to open. I've also heard raves about the Kleen Kanteen, but we're making the move to straws and regular cups (rather than spouts) anyway. We use a ceramic two handled cup for the occasional hot chocolate.
  
• We still use some plastic toddler cups for cold juices and water with meals at home- if we were buying from scratch we wouldn't, but we're hoping Boy #1 will move on to a regular cup soon and it would be really pricey to buy enough BPA-free options to have a cup for every meal and snack (without washing tons of cups).
• We don't eat that much canned foods, and we don't use formula, so we haven't thought about what to do for the can lining issue. Hmmmm....

Best source for more info? This blog, thesoftlanding.wordpress.com, has a ton of detail on different BPA-free options for bottles, cups, and items I never thought about, like teethers and toys. The Green Guide, published at National Geographic, gives a run down of different plastics and their other potential risks for use as food storage and can be found here. (Note this does not include BPA-risks, but covers more cold-food storage)