New U.S. research measuring the leaching of bisphenol A -- a synthetic estrogen that causes birth defects in animal studies -- from popular brands of plastic baby bottles was released Thursday by scientists and environmental/health advocacy groups.

The 20-page study titled "Baby's Toxic Bottle" was not peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal. The analysis came from the University of Missouri with funding from nonprofit groups. (A press release and summary of the report can be found at the Center for Health Environment and Justice.)

The environmental groups funding the research are also pushing an online nationwide petition calling on manufacturers to make their baby bottles from safer plastics.

Trouble is, bisphenol A is found in many items, including hard plastic sports bottles and in the lining in tin and aluminum cans.

In a phone-in press conference Thursday announcing the report, Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute of Health and the Environment at the University of Albany, emphasized that exposure to the plastic ingredient comes from many places:

"We do urge strongly that bisphenol A be taken out of all products that humans would ingest. At least getting them out of baby bottles is a start."

(If you want alternatives to these bottles, skip ahead to the end of this blog post.)

Supporters of the chemical industry maintain the polycarbonate bottles made of bisphenol A are safe. Said Dr. Gilbert Ross, executive and medical director of the American Council on Science and Health, a non-profit receiving industry funding:

"The current, very low levels of exposure to bisphenol A from plastic bottles and other consumer products do not pose a hazard to human health...

"Don't allow the alarmist claims to make you go thirsty, and parents, don't throw out the baby bottles with the bathwater."

This summer two different groups of scientists came to very different conclusions as to whether bisphenol A poses human health risks, as I reported here.

The new study, which looked at bottles from Advent, Disney/The First Years, Dr. Brown's and Evenflo bought from U.S. and Canadian retailers found detectable levels of bisphenol A were released into liquid after the bottles were heated. The amounts -- measured in parts per billion -- were at concentrations that caused health problems in research animals in previous studies.

From Wade Welshons, a University of Missouri scientist and researcher for the study:

"The surprising thing was how much (bisphenol A) comes from how many – all of (the bottles tested). We didn't expect to find so much coming out."

The congressional Energy and Commerce Committee currently is investigating the Weinberg Group, a "Washington, D.C.-based firm which critics charge 'manufactures uncertainty' on behalf of chemical companies to help keep their products free from government bans or other restrictions," according to this story from ABC News. The group has produced reports on bisphenol A.

And finally, if you decide you want to reduce bisphenol A exposure, experts recommend:

- Glass baby bottles or bottles made of polyethylene or polypropylene (which have the recycle label No. 1 or 2; bisphenol A bottles are made of polycarbonates, which fall under a catch-all recycle designation of No. 7).
- Don't heat food or drinks in plastic containers
- Avoid canned food and drinks
- Use stainless or No. 1 and 2 plastics for sports bottles (clear Nalgene bottles are No. 7)
- Don't use old No. 7 plastics that are scratched and cloudy -- they leach more bisphenol A