Popular baby bottles may be dangerous

A heads up for all us babies and especially for Mommies and Daddies

Popular baby bottles may be dangerous

Bottles from Dr. Brown's, Evenflo, Gerber, Playtex contain chemicals known to harm lab animals; industry group defends safety.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Independent experts convened by the National Institutes of Health will meet next week to review whether exposure to a chemical commonly found in plastic products like food containers and baby bottles causes health problems.

Separately, an environmental group said new laboratory tests at the University of Missouri found that the chemical, bisphenol A, leached into liquids at potentially dangerous levels from baby bottles sold by five leading brands.

Bisphenol A, also called BPA, is used in making polycarbonate plastic food and drink packaging.

There has been controversy over its safety. Industry views it as harmless. Environmentalists link it to developmental, neural and reproductive harm when ingested.

The NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences will convene a panel of 15 scientists on March 7 to review scientific data and reach conclusions on whether exposure to it causes developmental or reproductive harm, institute spokeswoman Robin Mackar said.