Per litre, when heated
16 million
microplastic particles released by a hot plastic baby bottle.
The fix: Choose glass or stainless bottles, and cool formula before it goes in.
but plastic free.
15 things in Baby & Kids
Baby & Kids, plastic free
The guide
A lower-plastic start for babies and kids
Heat plus plastic is a particular concern for babies. The fixes are simple, and reassuring.
4 min read
Nature Food, 2020
What actually helps
Glass bottles, cooled water
Babies are especially worth protecting, and the fixes are simple.
- Use glass or stainless bottles and let boiled water cool before mixing, hot plastic bottles released up to 16M particles/L. Nature Food, 2020
- Filtering and boiling water removes up to ~90% of nano- and microplastics before it reaches your child. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 2024
The science
Why baby & kids, but plastic free?
Heat plus plastic is a particular concern for babies, because bottles are sterilised and filled with hot liquid. Glass bottles, stainless feeding sets, cloth diapers, and wood or food-grade silicone toys remove plastic from the things infants put in their mouths most.
A 2020 Nature Food study found polypropylene baby bottles can release up to ~16 million microplastic particles per litre during hot formula prep, with bottle-fed infants potentially ingesting over a million particles a day. · Nature Food, 2020
Heat is the key driver: hotter liquids released far more particles in testing. · Nature Food, 2020
Common questions
- Do I need to throw out plastic bottles immediately?
- If you keep using them, researchers suggest preparing formula in a non-plastic container and cooling it before transferring. Glass and stainless bottles avoid the issue entirely.
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