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What is EVA and Why is it in My Baby's Teether?
What in the World is EVA?
EVA is short for Ethylene Vinyl Acetate. It is a durable, flexible, transparent copolymer plastic.
Wikipedia describes the following uses for EVA:
- EVA is typically used as a shock absorber in tennis shoes. It can be recognized in many crocs brand shoes and accessories, in the form of a foam called crocslite.
- The foam is also commonly used as padding in equipment for various sports such as ski boots, hockey, boxing, and mixed martial arts.
- EVA is used in biomedical engineering applications as a drug delivery device used within the body. While the EVA is not biodegradable within the body, it is quite inert and causes little or no reaction following implantation.
What an EVA Teether Looks Like - Bright Starts Teethers
Click thumbnail to view full-size
EVA in Baby Teethers
EVA is widely accepted as safe for use in teethers. It does not require a plasticizer to obtain its flexibility, making it bisphenol-a and phthalate free. The Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CEHJ) recommends EVA as a safer PVC-free plastic alternative.
EVA Can Also Be Found in Bibs - iPlay EVA Dots n Stripes Bib
More Info on EVA
- PVC: The Poison Plastic
by the Center for Health, Environment and Justice - Ethylene Vinyl Acetate at Wikipedia
- The Soft Landing Baby Blog
- Safe Mama
One-stop child safety, product recall, health and well-being resource for parents
Comments
Alicia,
Thank you. I fretted about what kind of teether to get for a long time and didn't know what to do. I finally found the solution and ordered my teether from theshoftlanding.com.
I still wonder, are we likely to find out that the safe plastics of today are also dangerous tomorrow? What are your thoughts on this? Also, I wonder (not for teethers, but let's say for plastic bowls and spoons), are these safe with warm foods in them? I always worry that the warmth of the food will make the plastic leach chemicals. Is this unfounded in the "safer" plastics?
- Author
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this unsettling topic. No one can say for sure that new research won't uncover toxicity caused by plastic currently thought to be safe.
One key point I often share with other concerned parents is that the basic formula of the plastics considered to be safer do not require the use of a plasticizer. So when no toxic plasticizer is used, there is nothing to leach out, and therefore no forseen toxic effects are expected.
This means that yes, it is safe to warm foods in safer plastic products, since there is nothing there to leach into the food.
Alicia
Alicia,
Thank you for your vision and making this information easily available as well as providing us with alternatives!
~Cynthia~
I wonder if it's cheaper to use EVA too...
Hi Alicia,
The web world is such a small place :) I was searching to find out if EVA was a good plastic for something non-baby related, once again your info was helpful. Happy New Year!
EVA is in our cigarettes now, look on the cigarette pack above the UPC code, it says FSC (fire-safe cigarette) to 'exstinguish cigarettes' if left unatteneded. Look on the side of a single cigarette, you'll see the two bands going around it, called 'speed bumps'. Cigareetes taste horrible now that they have done it.
Well of course you never know what's safe and what's dangerous, after all, you are not a scientist in a lab. BPA is just ONE of the dangerous chemicals they have found. There are hundreds of chemicals in plastic and not all of them have been researched.
As a general rule, anything manmade is potentially disaterous, and anything natural (God-Made) is a safer alternative. Men in white coats or black suits are after money.
The Amish will use a giant carrot for teething their babies.
ok. You can read on this plastic supplyer website that EVA (ETHYLENE-VINYL ACETATE COPOLYMER) also contains a few (0.3%) VINYL ACETATE, which is carcinogen, so, is EVA really safe?
SHAH POLYMERS - THE FIRM IS ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS OF DEVELOPING AND MARKETING ENGINEERING PLASTICS, ABS, PU, SAN, EVA, COMMODITY PLASTICS, ADVERTISING MATERIALS.
ETHYLENE VINYL ACETATE (EVA)
Europe is generally more progressive in passing environmental laws and regulations than we are in the US. If a European country has restricted the use of certain chemicals in products, I usually take their word for it. I found this online and it made me decide not to buy interlocking EVA floor mats: http://www.bureauveritas.com/wps/wcm/connect/bv_co...
We use EVA in our plastic ice bags too. It's basically a substance that can be treated like plastic, but is much more flexible. We add it to the plastic in our ice bags to prevent cracking in cold temperatures.
I just bought custom-made-orthotics to wear in my new sneakers and it is made of EVA. Because I'm very flat- footed these orthotics help me tremedously! I just hope they are not harmful to my body. But I do worry about the plastic bags that all our bread is sold in today. To me, I always find that it tastes a little plastic-like.
I worry about all the plastic fear making people worry about the wrong things so here's a few rules of thumb:
-plastic itself is almost always non-toxic because it is very stable (that's why our oceans are filled with it)
-Even plastics made from poisonous base chemicals like PVC, EVA, ABS, polystyrene, etc. are not going to poison you unless you burn or otherwise break them down
-It is common to have residues of these poisonous base chemicals on the new plastics in very tiny amounts (someone above mentions %.3 for EVA above which could be on the high side)
- It's the additives that are the problem since they are not usually chemically bonded to the plastic itself, as with phthalate plasticizers or heavy metals used as stabilizers
-Plastic made from BPA (bisphenol-A) like Lexan/polycarbonate is an exception to this rule because the base chemical (monomer) gets free merely from wear, releasing BPA over time (though plastic shopping receipts and canned food/drink liners will be a much larger source of exposure to BPA for most people)
That's a fantastic hub. Thank you so much.
Ron from http://www.intervalstraining.net
RRIPL, BANGALORE WAS AN DELGRADE AGENT FOR M/S.RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LTD., OF POLYMER OF LDPE,LLDPE,HDPE,PP,PPCP AND PVC
My partner and i employed to get on top of life however these days We've developed a weight.
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