» Laurie Rigler reads an excerpt from her book, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, and discusses why Jane Austen is still so popular today.

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Laurie Rigler

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

Penguin Podcast

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Healthy Child has always advised consumers to be wise with plastics, which can often leach dangerous toxins. Baby's Toxic Bottle, a study by a team of US and Canadian researchers has shown that plastic polycarbonate baby bottles leach dangerous levels of Bisphenol-A (BPA) when heated. All five brands tested, including Evenflo and Gerber, leached BPA. Adults should also be aware of the dangers as popular "Nalgene" bottles and other water bottles are made of the same type of plastic.

BPA, a common component in clear plastics, is a hormone-disrupting synthetic estrogen. According to the study, even at very low doses, BPA's mimicry of estrogen resulted in an array of health maladies including prostate and breast cancer, early onset of puberty, obesity, hyperactivity, lowered sperm count, miscarriage, diabetes, and altered immune system in animal studies. The hormone-like chemical could be the reason for overall rates of lower sperm counts, faster onset of puberty, and increased prostate cancer in humans.

Over 150 scientific journals have shown the dangers of small amounts of BPA in lab animals, which is sufficient to show their potential for harm in babies. The Work Group for Safe Markets, a coalition of public health and environmental NGO's, found that 95% of bottles on the market currently contain BPA. All of the brands they tested, Avent, Evenflo, Dr. Brown's and Disney/First Years, leached between 4.7 - 8.3 parts per billion of BPA and were purchased from major stores across the country.