safe & natural bottles and nipples: latex vs silicon

[fairtrademom]

I nursed my first little guy for 2 years, eat and use all organic products, use all natural home products, live life simply, etc. The thing that surprised me was the amount of PLASTIC involved with pumping (I work full time and was an active pumper!).
We used the expensive Evenflo (or Madela?) milk bags because I was constantly running out of bottles and freezer storage space but were surprised when we tasted the milk from the bags and noticed a yucky plastic taste.
When I called Evenflo to report this they were not surprised but had no suggestions other than to rinse the bags better before I used them!
We don't use plastic at home because when heated particules leach into the food but were unable to find ANY glass bottles for breast milk which is always being heated (I have since found them at www.naturalbaby-catalog.com).
My husband swears he recently read something about latex nipples being associated with cancer.
I was very surprised to not find ANYTHING about maintaining the safety of breast milk from harmful environmental contaminates and have yet to fins anythng addressing the difference between LATEX, RUBBER and SILICON nipples.
Does anyone else have these concerns or more info. insight?

[Quirky]

I went with the silicone nipples myself. They never seemed to break down and get sticky like the rubber/latex nipples did, and I was worried about triggering latex allergies, which can be severe. I've never seen any research on it, though.

[Periwinkle]

Ahhh, a subject near and dear to my heart. To say I researched this to death is an understatement! Here's my info, at a high-level:

1.) Breastmilk should NOT be stored/fed in glass bottles. I know it "seems" safer, but the electrostatic properties of the glass cause the beneficial live cells in breastmilk to adhere to the glass and never make it into your baby.

http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/pa/pa_storage_hhg.htm

2.) When selecting plastics, make sure they are NOT polycarbonate (#7). Use polypropylene ones instead, because polycarbonate leaches bisphenols into any liquid (and markedly so when warmed). Basically, all clear rigid plastics are unsafe. The only bottle I was able to find sold in literally any store around me that is the Evenflo Pastlel Tint bottle (purple, green, and light blue semi-translucent plastic). (Disposable nursers, such as the Playtex Nurser, are also okay because the bags that hold the milk are not polycarbonate.) I liked the Evenflo Pastel Tint... it's a basic bottle, with universal screw threading, and therefore, I was able to use it as a collection bottle while pumping, and as a feeding bottle. I could also customize with the nipple of my choice (the Nuk silicone Size 1 Slow Flow :D )

Okay, now about nipples... this is really a toss-up because concerns about safety have been raised on both sides. But again, in the end, I went with silicone. Silicone nipples "taste" neutral, do not break down and pose a choking hazard, and do not cause allergies.

[Mynn]

:blah

[Periwinkle]

That's right. Silicone nipples (the clear colorless ones, as opposed to rubber nipples which are the brownish ones) do not have to be replaced every 3 months. They stand up well to regular dishwasher-ing, and will probably last at least through one child's use of the bottle (probably multiple children as well).

[JaneS]

Here is a good chart that recommends safer bottles
http://www.checnet.org/healthehouse/pdf/plasticchart.pdf

[JaneS]

There's a safer bottle available in the UK, too bad that Dr Brown's do not make them available here:
http://www.babybfree.com/safe.html