Welcoming a baby into this world changes everything in one's life. In addition to all those changes many parents start realising how many harmful ingredients can be found in babies' products. One of those overly represented components is plastic.
Plastic is made from synthetic and semi-synthetic materials, amongst which polymers are the main component. As it takes many forms it can be found in great variety of everyday products.
It is widely known that plastic is toxic. PVC (Polyvinly chloride or "Poison Plastic") is known to be the most toxic plastic for our health as well as the environment. While produced it resleases dioxins, phthalates, vinyl chloride, ethylene dichloride, lead, cadmium and other (source: Made Safe). What is more a component named BPA (industrial chemical present in plastic since 1960s) is found in PVC. Many researches have found harmful effects of BPA free plastic on brain development, behaviour as well as prostate gland of the fetus, infants and children (source: Quadro).
In the past years a great number of baby and children products have been launched, which are BPA free. However the question, whether this is enough arises? Are babies, toddlers and children truly protected from all the harmful toxins usually found in plastic products?
Unfortunately the recent search says otherwise. In the paper launched in early 2020 the scientists from University of Missouri claim that: "the BPA free plastic could be as harmful as those products that contain the controversial chemical" (source: Science Daily).
After one comes face to face with such details, the person cannot ask themselves, is there an alternative to plastic as such? When searching for alternative materials one runs into a great diversity of potential materials. Many of them are new, plant based (e.g rice husk, wheat husk, bamboo powder), biodegradable and at the first sight a great option. However, unfortunately, all those materials can be used only in combination with plasticizers. We looked deeper and came across food grade silicone.
Food grade silicone is as name suggests, food safe as it is non toxic. The reason being that it does not contain any chemicals byproducts or fillers. It is mostly made from silica (sand) (source: Forbes).
There are many advantages of the food grade silicone. Some of them are:
Lightweight,
Resistant to high temperatures (it can be used in dishwashers),
Oven safe
Odorless,
Non toxic (it does not contain latex, phthalates, lead and it is BPA free),
It will not change (e.g. dry out, rot, crack, harden, peel) if cared for properly,
Durable,
Hygienic,
Ocean safe,
Food safe,
Planet safe (however it is not biodegradable; therefore please contact your local recycling center to learn more about disposal of silicone)
Examining the list above one can simply conclude the food grade silicone is a fine replacement for the plastic. However as difficult it can be to replace plastic in our daily lives with either food grade silicone products or any other appropriate material, plastic can be easily removed from our babies and children's everyday lives. Things being what they are parents can find cutlery, plates, cups, bottles, teethers made of the food grade silicone.
Disclaimer
Please note that we are not professionals within the field of (early)child education, nutrition or cosmetics. Indeed we are a group of parents who are interested in these topics. We would like to use this blog as a platform to share our positive experience and share some tips and tricks we have come across. That being said, the content is based purely on our own research and our own experiences.
Your LUMMY team
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