Plastic Baby Bottles (Heated)

Polypropylene bottles used for hot formula preparation.

42Moderate burden · out of 100

Cleaner swapGlass or stainless-steel bottles, and cool water before it touches plastic

How this score is built

100Start
81.6Chemical hazard 4 × 4.6−18.4
57.8Everyday exposure 7 × 3.4−23.8
42Persistence 6 × 2.6−15.6, then rounded to 42
ModerateThe band42 sits in 40–59.

What each input rests on

The three ratings behind the score, and the studies each rests on
Input	Rating	Evidence
Chemical hazard	4/10	unsourced input
Everyday exposure	7/10	Polypropylene infant feeding bottles released up to 16,200,000 microplastic particles per litre during formula preparation; sterilisation and high-temperature water significantly increased release. Microplastic release from the degradation of polypropylene feeding bottles during infant formula preparation · Nat Food 2020 DOI 10.1038/s43016-020-00171-y · PMID 37128027 · Abstract · read 2026-10-26
Persistence	6/10	unsourced input

Ratings are editorial. A study listed here supports the rating; it did not compute it. How the index is built

What this means for you

It scores as it does mainly because of how much everyday contact it involves. Research published in Nature Food found polypropylene infant bottles release very large numbers of microplastic particles when formula is prepared at high temperature, with release rising sharply with water temperature. Preparing in a non-plastic vessel and cooling before transfer lowers release substantially.

Evidence strength: moderate

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Lower-exposure choices

Glass Food StorageMinimal · Plastics

All 14 plastics entries, highest burden first →