I came out of the chemical industry and did a ton of homework on
Bisphenol A (BPA) when my kids were born. The biggest problem with
BPA is that it is an estrogen mimic - essentially giving anyone who
injests the substance an unregulated dose of a female hormone. Let's
put that in the "not a good thing" category even though there is no
conclusive scientific evidence that BPA is a bad thing to put into
your kids.

Really - there is no conclusive evidence...making this a
scientifically correct answer. That said, there is no way I want my
kids ingesting an unregulated estrogen mimic. Kind of the difference
between being intelligent and showing some wisdom.

BPA is used as a plasticizer - allowing producers to mold plastic to
the shapes and flexibility they desire. BPA is stable in most plastic
bottles unless the plastic is heated and/or when the bottle holds a
liquid for an extended (probably weeks or months) period of time.
Extended direct contact with liquids allows BPA to slowly leach out.

My opinion is that Dr. Brown bottles should be safe enough unless you
microwave or excessively heat the bottles. We chose to not store
liquid formula in the bottles and to serve the formula at room
temperature. The benefits of using those vacuum-free bottles seemed
to outweigh the pain of having to use glass. Hopefully the company
gets some non-BPA versions out soon.

The biggest area where BPA seems to enter kids' food supply appears to
be through canned foods. Most cans are lined with a spray-on plastic
that (surprise) is made malleable by adding a plasticizer. The FDA
does not require companies to report what plasticizer they use, but a
high % use Bisphenol-A due to its efficiency. That means the little
bit of BPA in the can liner is leaching into the food while it sits on
a shelf. Not much, mind you, but these little doses of BPA can add up
over each meal and over a lifetime. My opinion is that it is less
important to keep BPA related plastic bottles away from your kids and
more important to understand the impact of BPA in canned goods.

There is really not a lot of GOOD data out there on BPA directly
impacting the physical development of children; so it comes down to
collecting the scattered studies and coming to your own conclusion.
Mine is that BPA is not a great substance to feed your kids, but that
it does not mean that all plastic is bad. Even plastic containing
some BPA is going to be OK as long as it is handled correctly.
(Some...but not all.)

'Just a little more BPA info from a Dad with little kids!