Researchers have found that plastic bottle-fed babies eat daily more than 1 million ingesting particles of microplastics. The microplastics appear to be released mainly when the milk is heated and then shaken. But also powdered milk! The warmer the water used to dissolve powdered food or sterilize the bottle, the more micro plastic is released. Although many women breastfeed, you can't avoid warming the milk sometimes. Do this in a glass bottle, luckily there are also glass baby bottles available that do not have these disadvantages.
The possible health effects must be urgently investigated, according to scientists.
The researchers looked at the exposure of 12-month-old children to microplastics. Bottles of the widely used polypropylene can release up to 16 million pieces of microplastic per liter. On average, babies ingest 1,58 million particles per day. The numbers are highest in Australia, the US and Europe. This is mainly because mothers there breastfeed relatively little.
Advices
The advice of the researchers:
- Fortunately, there are also glass baby bottles available that do not have these disadvantages.
- Clean bottles with cold sterilized water and prepare powdered milk in a non-plastic container.
- Do not put milk in the bottle until it has cooled down.
- The use of a microwave is not recommended, as is shaking the bottle.