For the past year or so many of us have read or heard about the dangers of the chemical Bisphenol A, used to make hard polycarbonate plastic. Today a new study piles on even more evidence that BPA should be banned.

Just after we launched our online store Kai Kids last November (fully stocked with glass and BPA-free plastic baby bottles and sippy cups!) studies about BPA leaching from containers, baby and water bottles and chew toys hit the mainstream press. Parents everywhere –those who could afford it, that is — started tossing common brands of sippy cups and plastic baby bottles and searching for safter, less toxic alternatives.

The word last fall was that BPA can be a hormone disrupter. Animal studies had shown links between chronic, low doses of BPA to obesity, diabetes, thyroid disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, reduced sperm count in men and other illnesses, and that the most dangerious periods of exposure were in the womb, during infancy and early childhood.

Today comes news from the respected Journal of the American Medical Association that people with higher levels of Bisphenol A in their bodies also have higher rates of heart disease, diabetes and liver abnormalities!

The team of British and American scientists compared the health status of 1,455 men and women with the level of BPA in their urine. Participants with the highest levels were nearly three times more likely to have cardiovascular disease than those with the lowest levels, and 2.4 times more likely to have diabetes. Higher BPA levels were also associated with abnormal concentrations of three liver enzymes.

So, if you still haven’t gone through your family’s plastic paraphenalia to weed out items made with BPA and other dangerous chemicals (usually clear, hard plastics and anything with the # numbers 3, 6 and 7), now is a great time to get the job done!

Our house is still not a completely plastic-free zone, but we’ve tried to wean ourselves of our plastic addiction by searching out safer, old-school alternatives: stainless steel and bamboo baby utensils (my Little Guy’s fave is my dad’s silver babyspoon engraved with Grandpa’s name Bruce), ceramic bowls and plates, Klean Kanteen water bottles, BornFree BPA-free baby bottles, Pyrex and stainless steel food containers, plus we wash and reuse any plastic bag or ziploc baggie that is still lurking in our cupboards and drawers.

It takes a little effort, and in many cases, more money, but in the end, you are investing in products that are usually more durable and often also recyclable, plus you can’t put a price on your childrens’ health and wellbeing!