Should We Worry About Microplastics in Baby Bottles?

So first, what are microplastics?

They are exactly what it says on the tin.

They are very small plastic particles, usually defined as smaller than five millimeters.

Five millimeters is big, though.

It is, but many are far much smaller than that.

Nanoplastics are smaller, again, often defined as below one micrometer.

See, that's what I always think of when I think about them.

Yeah, so researchers do not all use the same definition.

That's why there's a lot of confusion.

Although, in fairness, I don't think about these a lot.

And I don't like the following sentence, but size matters.

Because very small particles may behave differently in the body from larger ones.

I think that's fair.

And just to be clear, this is different from BPA because like the BPA scare has been around for ages.

Yes.

BPA is a particular chemical used to make some plastic and some resins.

Now, microplastics are particles of material.

The European Union already prohibits BPA in infant bottles.

Go on and you.

Yes.

So a BPA-free label is not a guarantee that a product cannot shed particles.

It's the same as the organic label on baby formulas.

Yes.

The European Union bans the use of pesticides in making formula.

All the formulas