I have had a lot to say in recent months about baby products and their contents. I have told my readers about Sodium Laurel Sulphate and its numerous sisters. I have told you about the sodium polyacrolate in nappies. I have urged you to consider what you give your children, to read labels, to look at medicines and not to blindly trust those things that have smiley babies on the covers.

Sometimes people agree with me. Sometimes people sort of roll their eyes at me, and sometimes they consider (and even call) me downright paranoid, or as one person recently did, accuse me of scaremongering.

And that’s all fine, because in my heart I know that I’m making the right choices for me and mine, as each of us must for our own. And every now and again, something happens that reassures me and reminds me why I am a sceptic.

I was doing some late night bed time reading recently when I came across a website on bisphenol-a, or BPA. The site is copyrighted for 2003 – 2007. It asks and answers a lot of questions, such as what is BPA, how is BPA used and produced, has it been tested for safety, and does it pose a human risk.

The answers to these questions are startling and alarming in light of recent findings. “Yes”, they say, “BPA has been safely used in consumer products and researched and studied for over 40 years. The weight of scientific evidence clearly supports the safety of BPA and provides strong reassurance that there is no basis for human health concerns from exposure to BPA.”

It has been tested, they tell us, and found safe.

“Safety assessments of bisphenol A (BPA) conclude that the potential human exposure to BPA from polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins is more than 400 times lower than the safe level of BPA set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This minimal level of exposure to BPA poses no known risk to human health.The use of polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins for food contact applications has been and continues to be recognized as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Food, the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency, and other regulatory agencies worldwide.”

This from a website that contains scientific studies, sponsored by the Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group, which is organized regionally at the American Chemistry Council, PlasticsEuropeJapan Chemical Industry Association.

Today, we know different.

But we knew different in 1930 already

So in 1930, 25 years after it’s first use, concerns were raised about BPA, but nothing happened. In 2008 concerns were raised again, and someone took note. In 2010, it is recognized that BPA could be altering endocrine homeostasis – in other words, affecting sexual maturation and reproductive functions.

For 80 years we lived with a product that was making our parents sick. That made us sick.

In our home we use lavender essence instead of baby bath products, and saffron oil instead of baby skin products. We use reusable nappies and SLS free wipes and we do all this because I cannot help but wonder how long it will be before I sit here reading another article on another website about the truth behind these so called ‘safe’, unnatural products.

5 Comments

Definitely Maybe – Is Safe Really Safe?

  1. I never realized it was in all our canned food, lining the inside of the cans. It’s a new challenge to live without the ease of that stuff, but I believe too that all these chemicals are affecting us, not just our current health, but our very genes, and those of our childrens, and our great grandchildren will live with the effects of the choices we are making today. When I find the article that made me think that, I’ll send it your way. xo – Ali

    1. @Ali, I’m no scientists, but I’m convinced it’s all these ‘safe for us’ products that are making people sick. I’ve had three friends with cancer under 30 and 2 with strokes under 35. That is WEIRD and shouldn’t be happening.

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