KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Parents, stores and the entire country of Canada are ditching polycarbonate baby bottles and sippy cups. That's because the hard plastic that most baby bottles are made from contains the chemical bisphenol-A, which some researchers believe poses serious health risks.

On Friday, Canada banned BPA, as the chemical is commonly known, from baby bottles and drinking cups, based on a review of worldwide studies. Wal-Mart and other retailers in Canada have removed children's products containing BPA from shelves.

Also last week, Wal-Mart announced plans to stop selling children's products containing BPA by next year in U.S. stores.

"Good," said Aubrey Tsevis, a Blue Springs, Mo., kindergarten teacher and mother of 22-month-old Hudson Tsevis and 3-week-old Henry Tsevis. "This is about health and our babies' bodies. It's better to be safe than sorry."

BPA also is found in some pacifiers and teethers.

Like a growing number of parents concerned about BPA in polycarbonate plastic, Tsevis buys glass baby bottles and stainless steel sippy cups for her children. When her eldest son was born, she couldn't find glass bottles in stores and had to order them online.

Today, responding to consumer demand, national retailers are bringing back glass baby bottles after a generations-long absence. National and local stores have trouble keeping glass bottles in stock. "I'm having a hard time finding them," said Stephanie McGuirk of Prairie Village, Kan., an acupuncturist and mother of 10-month-old son, Campbell Higgins. She prefers buying glass bottles from a store instead of online so she can handle the products before making up her mind. "I know there are plastic ones out there that don't contain BPA, but I'd just rather use glass."

ON A MISSION

Alicia Voorhies of Olathe, Kan., remembers feeling shocked two years ago when her sister in South Carolina called to say her son's pediatrician told her she needed to switch baby bottles. That was the first time Voorhies heard the term BPA. The former nurse and mother of three young children began researching plastics online. The more studies she read, the more concerned she grew about BPA and phthalates, another controversial chemical compound used in plastics.

Studies on laboratory animals show a possible link between even small amounts of BPA and breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, hyperactivity and other serious disorders.

Frederick vom Saal, a professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia and one of the key researchers of BPA, says the chemical can cause reproductive problems.

Voorhies routinely calls manufacturers, asking them what ingredients went into making their baby bottles, sippy cups, dishes and eating utensils.

"I keep pushing when a company sends me a letter stating the safety of BPA, according to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration)," she said. "I tell them that's not what I asked for. I asked what the products have in them."

Voorhies started a blog (www.thesoftlandingbaby.com) and posted her findings and news stories about BPA. Last year, with family members, she started selling glass baby bottles and non-BPA plastic ones online. She also writes guides on finding BPA-free products at other stores.

She and her sisters, kids in tow, take frequent field trips to Wal-Mart, Target, Babies R Us and Whole Foods to see what types of bottles, cups and dishes they are selling.

"There are still so many people who don't know about BPA," Voorhies said. "My whole goal is to provide information so people can make safe choices."

MAKING CHANGES

Industry groups for plastics, chemicals, juvenile products and grocery manufacturers maintain that BPA is safe, based on the body of scientific evidence and on the findings of the Food and Drug Administration.

But last week the National Toxicology Program, an office of the National Institutes of Health, in a draft report expressed concern about BPA. The office does not regulate BPA, but its findings are used by the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency to set safe exposure limits for chemicals.

In reaction, Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said he would file a bill to ban BPA from baby products, dental sealants and any bottle or container that holds food and drink.

Some hospitals use polycarbonate bottles containing BPA for newborns and send new parents home with the bottles.

"We are in the process of eliminating the use of bottles with BPA because of consumer concerns," said Shannon Cates, spokeswoman for Shawnee Mission Medical Center in Merriam, Kan.

Spokesmen at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and at the University of Kansas Hospital say they've used BPA-free bottles for years. St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City also uses BPA-free bottles, a spokesman said.

Last week Playtex, a manufacturer of baby bottles and other infant products, announced it will make all of its products free of BPA by the end of the year. The company, along with many others, sells polycarbonate bottles containing BPA. However, its disposable drop-in baby bottle liners, made of polyethylene plastic, have never contained BPA.

Dr. Brown's bottles, critically acclaimed for a venting system that helps reduce acid reflux and colic, added glass bottles to its line this year. Still, glass makes up only 5 percent to 10 percent of its bottle inventory. The rest are polycarbonate (containing BPA) and manufactured in China.

Handi-Craft, the St. Louis manufacturer of Dr. Brown's bottles, recently started making BPA-free polypropylene plastic bottles in Missouri. Last week the polypropylene bottles hit store shelves. They cost the same as polycarbonate bottles. The company also is developing protective sleeves for its glass bottles that should be available in a few months.

"BPA has been shown to be safe in 30 years of studies," says Carolyn Hentschell, president of Handi-Craft. "It doesn't shatter, pick up odors or stain. But if customers want different materials, we're going to give it to them. It won't matter to us if we phase out using BPA."

WHAT'S BPA?

Bisphenol-A, or BPA, is a chemical used in the production of polycarbonate plastic (including bottles and sippy cups) and epoxy linings of canned foods (including infant formula) to add strength and resilience to products.

Worldwide more than 6 billion pounds of the chemical are produced each year.

While many uses pose no risk to consumers, some scientists worry about the health effects of ingesting low doses of the chemical, which mimics estrogen in the human body.

BPA has come under scrutiny mostly in children's products. The concern is that the infant and toddler years are the most rapid stages of physical development. Also, baby bottles containing formula or refrigerated breast milk are commonly heated. Plastic has been found to leach chemicals faster when heated.

Nipples, nipple holders, bottle liners and venting systems in baby bottles are commonly made of plastics besides polycarbonate and are typically free of BPA.

This month Nalgene, the maker of reusable water bottles popular among athletes and college students, said it would stop making bottles with BPA and recall products in stores.