BPA, PVC and Phthalate Free Pacifier Guide

by Alicia on March 3, 2008 in Pacifiers, Shopping Guides

UPDATED 12/14/2009

We’ve heard your requests for a Safer Pacifier Guide, so we’re all over it!

Here’s a quick reference list of alternative pacifiers:

RazBaby Keep-it-Kleen Pacifiers and pacifier holders are now BPA-free (updated 12/14/09)
Natursutten Natural Rubber Pacifiers
The First Years: Soothies Silicone Pacifiers (including the Soothie Teething Pacifier), Safe Comfort, Ultra Kip, Disney Pacifier and Attacher, as well as the Soothie Pacifier Attachers (the Bee w/ Honey Pot Clip, Flower with Petal Clip and Penguin w/ Igloo Clip).
Vice Versa Binky w/ Case
Playtex Pacifiers: (ALL current and new designs for 2008 are BPA free shipping as of 9/10/08) Binky Most Like Mother Latex Pacifier, Binky Most Like Mother Silicone Pacifier, Binky Angled Pacifier, Binky One-piece Pacifier, Ortho-Pro Pacifier
Evenflo Pacifiers: Mimi Soft Touch, Mimi Premium, Mimi Neo One-Piece. Also the Vizion, Fuzion and Illuzion are now BPA-free (these pacifiers were redesigned to be BPA free during the Summer of 2008, so be careful to choose only the new pacifiers labeled as BPA free).
Gerber: NUK Classic, NUK Original, NUK Nautical and, NUK Fashion (as of 2/08). ALL pacifiers will be BPA free by January 2009.
Hawaiian Medical: Gumdrop Pacifiers (contain a polycarbonate center, encompassed in silicone; read more below in our update)
Happy Baby Silicone Soother
Nurture Pure Silicone Pacifier
Born Free Pacifiers
Avent Pacifiers (labeled as BPA-free): Nighttime, Fashion, Freeflow, Bear, Translucent
MAM (MAM became independent from Sassy at the beginning of 2009): Trends and Pearl pacifiers are now BPA-free, but be aware that MAM is still in the process of labeling the newly BPA-free pacifiers as such (so buy from a retailer who has confirmed the stock numbers with MAM). The Classic and Air styles are NOT BPA-free yet.
Nuby: The new Natural Flex pacifier line is BPA-free including the Classic Oval, Orthodontic and Round Cherry Style (see notes on other pacifiers below).
Munchkin: The 2 pack pacifier, as well as pacifier attachers are now BPA-free

What about pacifiers containing toxic chemicals? Here’s a general list of pacifiers to avoid:

Gerber: Natural Flex, NUK Button pacifier, Gerber Round Soft Center pacifier, Gerber NUK Fashion Silicone. ALL pacifiers will be BPA free by the end of 2008. As of 12/14/09: still getting reports from Gerber that all pacifiers listed here still contain BPA . . .
Sassy/MAM: Classic and Air pacifiers still contain BPA (please see the updated status of BPA in Sassy MAM pacifiers)
Nuby: ALL pacifiers not listed in the article above still contain BPA at this time.
Razbaby Keep-it-Clean: will be BPA free in January 2009. Still waiting to hear an update . . .

Remember to choose silicone over latex, because synthetic latex pacifiers can contain nitrosamines, a known carcinogen (Natursutten is an exception to this general rule).

As with each of our other Guides, it will continue to be updated as we learn more.

UPDATE 3/22/08: We’ve had a few questions about the Gumdrop pacifiers. This pacifier is tricky as far as BPA goes. Its skeleton is made of polycarbonate; then the whole skeleton is completely encapsulated with medical grade silicone. The only caution we would give in using the Gumdrop is to watch for wear in the silicone layer. Also, as mentioned on the Gumdrop website (www.hawaiimedical.com/Products/cp_products13.html), do not cut or trim the pacifier to fit the baby’s face.

UPDATE 4/8/2008: We called The First Years to confirm our list of pacifiers. They confirmed that our previous list is still current and we also found out that the Soothie Teething Pacifier, Disney Pacifiers w/ Attacher, and the Soothie Pacifier Attachers (the Bee w/ Honey Pot Clip, Flower with Petal Clip and Penguin w/ Igloo Clip) are all BPA, PVC and Phthalate free. The First Years has been so helpful and forth-coming with this information.

UPDATE 11/23/2008: We called Gerber to get an updated list of pacifiers and were told that following pacifiers DO contain BPA, but are being discontinued: