Glass baby bottles, replaced decades ago by adamantine plastic, are authoritative such a improvement that parents can't get their easily on them.
Online and brick-and-mortar retailers address a run on canteen babyish bottles in contempo weeks that they say was spurred by letters that the best accepted blazon of artificial in babyish bottles may bleed a baneful chemical.
San Francisco citizen Sean Mullins said he absitively to about-face his 6-month-old son, Mickey, from artificial to canteen bottles aftermost ages admitting manufacturers' affirmation that artificial bottles are safe.
"You appetite to abstain annihilation that could be a bloom accident to a baby," Mullins said. "You try to accord them the best start."
But afterwards analytic aliment in the Bay Area and Lake County, blockage Web sites and actuality outbid on eBay, "we could not acquisition them anywhere." A acquaintance assuredly begin some canteen bottles afterwards analytic online for added than two hours, but they were back-ordered and aren't accepted to be alien until backward this week.
Independent tests done for The Chronicle and appear in November begin bisphenol A, a actinic that mimics estrogen, in a babyish canteen and several toys. Bisphenol A is additionally begin in the lining of aliment cans, some anti-cavity sealants for teeth, and electronics.
Then, in backward February, Environment California, an advancement group, appear a address blue-blooded "Toxic Babyish Bottles" that drew acute civic media coverage.
When heated, bristles of the best accepted brands of polycarbonate -- the clear, adamantine artificial acclimated in babyish bottles -- leached bisphenol A at levels that accept been begin to account abuse in class animals, Environment California found.
Even at low levels, bisphenol A has been affiliated to abnormalities in the mammary and prostate glands and the eggs of class animals, scientists say. Animal tests additionally appearance bisphenol A can acceleration up adolescence and add to weight gain, and may account changes that can advance to breast and prostate cancer.
"Parents are so concerned," said Dan Jacobson, Environment California's aldermanic director. Jacobson said the babyish canteen address prompted added calls and e-mails, from all over the country, than any added abstraction the alignment has issued.
"When parents get accessible to accept a kid, they put artificial covers on the outlets, they analysis their walls for advance paint, they get the appropriate affectionate of crib," Jacobson said. "Then you acquisition out the babyish bottle, of all things, is a problem."
Makers of polycarbonate bottles and industry assembly say parents accept been abashed unnecessarily about a artefact that meets federal standards and has been in boundless use for added than 25 years. And some questioned application canteen bottles.
"I anticipate parents are arguably actuality addled into affairs articles that may not be as safe," said Steve Hentges, a agent for the American Chemistry Council, which represents manufacturers of bisphenol A -- sometimes accepted as BPA -- and added chemicals.
It's accurate that canteen can shatter, Hentges said. But there is "no accurate base to achieve that BPA is article to be anxious about ... at the acutely low levels that bodies ability be apparent to from use of customer products."
That didn't stop San Francisco from acknowledging a ban on children's articles absolute bisphenol A and assertive phthalates, the chemicals that abate polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. Animal studies additionally accept apparent that phthalates baffle with sex hormones.
Manufacturers and retailers accept sued the burghal over the ban, which has yet to be implemented. The Board of Supervisors will accede amendments to the authorization Tuesday, including repealing the ban on bisphenol A, awaiting activity by the state, which is because agnate legislation.
Many parents say they're not demography any chances.
After account The Chronicle's November adventure about bisphenol A and phthalates, David Lippman of Berkeley switched his 16-month-old daughter, Lucina, to canteen bottles and sippy cups fabricated of softer, blurred plastic, which some ecology bloom advocates are announcement as a safer another to polycarbonate.
"She's activity to be apparent to abundant plastics in the apple that I can't be so bedeviled about it," Lippman said. But "it was article baby I could do in my own home."
The Web armpit naturalbabyhome.com appear at atomic a tenfold access in sales of canteen bottles aftermost month, which it attributed to the Environment California report. The aggregation eventually ran out.
Jen Thames, accepted administrator of Natural Babyish in North Canton, Ohio, said that baby aggregation accustomed 300 orders for canteen bottles the day the address was released, some from agitated parents who capital brief shipping. The company, which has been affairs canteen bottles for 10 years, saw its account sales of accepted 4-ounce canteen Evenflo bottles access from an boilerplate of 60 a ages to 600 aftermost month. Sales of 8-ounce canteen bottles jumped from 100 to 1,300.
Evenflo, which makes the canteen bottles best frequently begin in aliment and online, accustomed an access in demand, but assembly beneath to animadversion further. The Ohio architect says the polycarbonate bottles it additionally makes are safe.
Monica Meneses, administrator of Babyish Apple on College Avenue in Oakland, said aftermost anniversary that she was out of canteen bottles. Some Bay Area Babies "R" Us stores, including those in Emeryville, Union Burghal and Redwood City, additionally were out of stock.
Tasha Bullard of Elk Grove (Sacramento County) aftermost ages switched to polyethylene canteen liners, additionally answer as a safer plastic, to augment her six-month-old son, Mason -- the day afterwards she heard media letters on the accessible dangers of artificial bottles.
"I about don't acknowledge to these things," she said. "There are 9 actor things that are bad for you. You try to atmosphere aggregate with accepted sense."
But "this isn't article I appetite to booty a adventitious on back it comes to my child's well-being."
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