There are often reports in the media that using plastic bottles can have serious health implications for our children.
As a producer of baby bottles made of glass with many years of experience, we see it as our responsibility to address the concerns of parents (-to-be) and manufacturers of branded baby products. The links below provide further information on the current debate about bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that virtually all plastic bottles contain:
Baby bottle chemical label call (BBC News)
What's coming out of Baby's bottle ? (Sciencenews)
As a safe alternative, DURAN Group GmbH has supplied more than 250 million glass bottles over the decades to leading manufacturers in Europe and beyond. Quality is consistently high.
There is a variety of arguments in favour of our DURAN® glass as a material for baby bottles and containers which come into contact with food. We have compared the key features of our glass bottles with those of plastic bottles below:
| Glass bottles | Plastic bottles |
| + High heat resistance up to 135°C bottle can be boiled, sterilized under pressure in autoclaves (hospitals) or cleaned chemically without any harm to the glass | + Large variety of shapes and decoration Plastic bottles can be found in many different shapes and are easier to decorate |
| + High thermal shock resistance of >95°C (95K) It is no problem to "shock" the glass by taking it from boiling water and cool it down suddenly to 5°C or less | + Safety and weight A plastic bottle is light in weight and does not easily break. The mother/father can hold the bottle without getting tired |
| + High chemical resistance No acid, alkaline or hydrolytical substances/liquids, common in household use, may attack the surface of the glass. The same glass is used for high performance laboratory glass | - Nursing bottle syndrom As result of the light and "unbreakable" bottle, parents are lead to give their infants the bottle as soon as they are crying to calm them down. The infants get used to sweetened drinks, which then cause tooth problems |
| + Very hygenic, brilliant and easy-to-clean The very smooth and non-porous surface of the glass does not allow germs, fungi and other impurities to deposit on the glass | - Microscratches UV-light (sunshine) and chemical cleansers can cause microscratches. The bottle is not easy to clean and therefore not hygenic (germs, fungi and other impurities may stick in the microscratches) - also risk of bad taste |
| + Neutral in taste and odourfree The glass does not react with the content of the bottle, no substances can get into the food. This means that after cleaning the milk will not take the taste or smell of a mint tea, etc. | - Loss of visual attraction After several cycles in the dishwasher, the plastic gets cloudy and the bottle does not look brilliant any more |
| - Glass is heavier than plastic and can break It is not advisable to leave the baby/infant alone with a glass bottle | - Health risk because of Bisphenol A Most baby bottles are made of polycarbonate which contains bisphenol A (BPA). BPA dissoves from older bottles, especially if the bottle contains hot liquids and can influence the weak hormonal system of a baby |
| - Limited range of shapes It is not possible to blow glass in all thinkable shapes |
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