BPA-Free Baby Bottles: Glass vs. Silicone, Brand by Brand

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BPA-free has been the legal floor for US baby bottles since July 17, 2012, when the FDA amended its food additive regulations (21 CFR, 77 FR 41899) to remove authorization for polycarbonate resins in baby bottles and sippy cups, because manufacturers had already abandoned that use. So the label no longer separates one bottle from another; the body material does. Polypropylene is the one body material with a published microplastic figure, measured under the heat of sterilizing and formula prep. Glass and stainless steel have no comparable shedding mechanism, and silicone has no published shedding figure in either direction. After the body, check the nipple, which touches milk on every bottle, and on a “glass” bottle the plastic collar most listings don’t advertise.

Two clear plastic baby bottles with gray silicone nipples standing side by side, no faces or brand text visible.
Two BPA-free baby bottles with silicone nipples. Photo by Jaye Haych on Unsplash

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Bottles already in the cabinet fall under the same 2012 rule as anything sold today, so BPA is not a reason to replace them. If the Nature Food polypropylene figure is the worry, the mechanism it measured was heat — sterilizing and hot formula prep. Swapping only the bottles used for hot prep, and keeping the rest for water and cool storage, answers that without emptying the cupboard. When you do buy, a body that can serve a second baby, such as Pura’s stainless Kiki or a Mason Bottle kit built on a standard Mason jar, does more for waste than any label claim.

Are glass baby bottles better than plastic?

The comparison has one piece of published evidence behind it, and it points toward glass. In 2020, Li et al. tested polypropylene (PP) infant feeding bottles in Nature Food and measured microplastic release as high as 16.2 million particles per litre — a figure that climbed sharply under sterilizing and high-temperature formula-prep conditions, the exact way PP bottles are used in practice. Glass has no equivalent shedding pathway from the container wall itself; there’s no comparable published number because there’s no comparable mechanism to measure.

Table of baby bottle body materials: glass, including borosilicate from Lifefactory and Hevea, has no shedding pathway from the container wall but is the heaviest and can chip or shatter; stainless steel, Pura’s Kiki, has no comparable shedding mechanism and will not chip; silicone from Comotomo, Nanobébé, Mason Bottle and Olababy has no published shedding figure and no drop risk; and polypropylene bottles released up to 16.2 million microplastic particles per litre under heat in a 2020 Nature Food study, a figure measured in PP rather than PPSU, but bounce if dropped
What the published shedding evidence shows for each baby bottle body material, and what each trades off. Based on Li et al., Nature Food (2020). Graphic by The Zero Waste List.

That doesn’t make glass strictly better — it’s a different set of trade-offs. Glass is the heaviest option on the table below and can chip or shatter if dropped, where a PP bottle just bounces. Borosilicate glass (Lifefactory, Hevea) resists thermal shock — sudden hot/cold swings from sterilizing and chilling — better than ordinary soda-lime glass, though most maker pages don’t specify which type they use. And a glass body isn’t an all-glass bottle: every glass bottle here ships with a silicone or rubber nipple, and Lifefactory’s and Mason Bottle’s add a polypropylene cap, ring, or stopper.

Is PPSU safe?

PPSU (polyphenylsulfone) shows up in some higher-end bottle bodies for its heat and shatter resistance compared with polypropylene. It’s a different plastic from PP, and that distinction matters: the Nature Food microplastic figures above were measured from polypropylene specifically, not PPSU. No maker in the table publishes a shedding study for a PPSU body, so there’s currently no published number to compare it against PP or glass — only the maker’s BPA-free claim, true of every bottle here since 2012.

Do silicone bottles leach anything?

Comotomo, Nanobébé’s Flexy, Mason Bottle’s all-silicone line, and Olababy’s GentleBottle all describe their bodies as food-grade or medical-grade silicone, BPA-free, on their own pages — but none cite an independent leaching or shedding study the way the PP figure above is cited. That’s a different evidence situation, not necessarily a different safety outcome: silicone is newer to the baby-bottle shelf than PP or glass, and the missing published number reflects that more than a tested-and-cleared result.

Which BPA-free bottles have no plastic touching milk?

Table of baby bottle parts: the body touches milk, and a PP or PPSU body puts that plastic in the milk path; the silicone or rubber nipple touches milk on every bottle; the polypropylene collar that holds the nipple on most glass bottles sits above the fill line; and the silicone pouch inside Boon’s NURSH holds the milk, so the milk touches only the silicone pouch and nipple
Which parts of a baby bottle touch the milk, and which sit above the fill line. Graphic by The Zero Waste List.

Body material alone doesn’t answer this — the nipple and collar are sold and assembled separately, and most “glass” bottles ship with a polypropylene collar that holds the nipple on. That collar sits above the fill line and doesn’t contact milk, but checking body material alone still overstates how plastic-free a listing is. Bottles whose entire milk path is glass, stainless, or silicone plus a silicone or rubber nipple include Pura’s Kiki, Comotomo, Boon’s NURSH, Nanobébé’s Flexy, Olababy’s GentleBottle, Mason Bottle’s all-silicone line, and any glass bottle paired with a silicone or rubber nipple. A PP- or PPSU-bodied bottle puts that plastic directly in the milk path, by definition.

Buy the Pura Kiki 9oz Stainless at Amazon

Which bottles use glass, silicone, steel or plastic

Lifefactory and Hevea name borosilicate glass, the type that handles hot-to-cold swings better, and Tommee Tippee bonds its silicone to the glass instead of adding a removable sleeve. Pura’s Kiki is the one stainless steel body. Comotomo, Nanobébé, Mason Bottle and Olababy make the body itself from silicone, while Boon’s NURSH holds the milk in a silicone pouch inside the bottle, so milk touches only silicone. MAM and Playtex are the plastic-bodied bottles, and neither names its plastic; Playtex feeds from disposable, pre-sterilized liners.

Bottle Body material Nipple material Collar/ring material Sleeve Dishwasher/sterilizer safe Microplastic-shedding note Certifications/statements as made Price (Aug 2026) Where to buy
Philips Avent Natural (SCF673/17) Glass (type not specified) Not stated as a material; described as a “comfort petal design” nipple — None described — N/A — glass body — — Buy at Amazon
Dr. Brown’s Options+ Wide-Neck Glass, 9oz Glass (listed under the site’s “Glass Baby Bottles” category) Silicone (Level 1 slow-flow nipple; matches the site’s “100% silicone bottle nipple” naming on sibling listings) Not stated None described for this line Not stated N/A — glass body Marketed as BPA-free across the product family; no separate PVC/phthalate statement $10.99 Buy at Amazon
Evenflo Balance+ Glass, Wide Neck Glass Clear silicone (the listing’s “Clear Silicone / 2pk” nipple variant) Not stated Not stated Not stated N/A — glass body BPA-free (marked “yes” in the page’s own comparison table) $29.99 (6oz, 3-pack) Buy at Amazon
Lifefactory 8oz Glass with Silicone Sleeve Borosilicate glass (“wide neck borosilicate glass baby bottle”, per the page) Silicone (Stage 2, 3–6 months, per the page) Polypropylene cap, ring, and stopper (named directly on the page) Silicone sleeve (named directly on the page) Not stated N/A — glass body Not restated as a BPA-free claim on this specific page $19.99 Buy at Amazon
Hevea Standard Neck Glass, 240ml/8oz Two-Pack Borosilicate glass, described as “thermal shock-resistant” and non-odor-retaining on the page Sold as a separate nipple line; material not restated on this bottle listing Not stated Not included on the base two-pack listing Not stated N/A — glass body Not stated $36.00 (two-pack, priced in USD on the .com storefront) Buy at Amazon
Pura Kiki 9oz Stainless 18/8 stainless steel Medical-grade silicone Not stated None — bare stainless body Not stated N/A — stainless body MADE SAFE Certified; marketed as “100% Plastic-Free” $26.99 Buy at Amazon
Comotomo Baby Bottle Gen 2 Food-grade silicone (per the maker’s Gen 2 page) Silicone, separate from the body (replacement nipples sold separately) Outer ring; material not stated N/A Top-rack dishwasher safe; microwave, steam and electric sterilizer safe N/A — silicone body “Free from chemicals such as BPA, PVC, and Phthalates” $12.99 (5oz), $13.99 (8oz), Oct 2026 Buy at Amazon
Nanobébé Flexy, 5oz 100% medical-grade silicone Silicone, same material as the body Not stated N/A Dishwasher safe (stated directly on the page) N/A — silicone body “BPA-free, non-toxic, food-grade silicone” $17.99 (5oz, 2-pack) Buy at Amazon
Boon NURSH 8oz Silicone milk pouch inside an outer bottle; materials listed as silicone and polypropylene Platinum food-safe silicone Not stated N/A Top-rack dishwasher safe; microwave-sterilizable N/A — milk touches only the silicone pouch and nipple, per Boon Made without BPA or PVC $9.99 (single 8oz bottle, Oct 2026) Buy at Amazon
Mason Bottle DIY Kit (glass jar + silicone sleeve) Glass (standard wide-mouth Mason jar body, per the kit description) Silicone (the kit’s “extra-soft infant nipple,” per the maker’s own product catalog) Plastic ring cap (named directly in the maker’s product catalog) Silicone sleeve, included in the kit Not stated N/A — glass body BPA-free (stated in the page title) $23.99 Buy at Amazon
Mason Bottle All-Silicone Premium silicone (“made from premium silicone,” per the page) Silicone, same one-piece material as the body Not applicable — one-piece silicone body N/A Not stated N/A — silicone body BPA-free; marketed as daycare-approved because “baby’s milk doesn’t come in contact with plastic” $24.99 Buy at Amazon
Olababy GentleBottle 100% food-grade silicone Silicone, same material, off-center nipple molded into the body Not applicable — one-piece silicone body N/A Not stated N/A — silicone body “BPA, PVC, lead, and phthalate free”; Red Dot and iF Design awards for related products in the same care line $14.99 Buy at Amazon
Tommee Tippee Natural Start Silicone-Coated Glass Glass core with a bonded silicone exterior coating (“glass bottle with premium, soft-touch silicone finish,” per the page) Sold as a separate “teat” line; material not restated as silicone on this exact page Not stated Not applicable — the silicone is a bonded coating, not a removable sleeve Dishwasher safe; microwave-sterilizable in 3 minutes (stated directly on the page) N/A — glass body “BPA, BPS and Phthalate free” $37.26–$41.40 depending on size/variant —
MAM Easy Start Anti-Colic, 9oz Plastic; the specific plastic isn’t named Silicone (listed directly as “Teat Material: Silicone” in the page’s own spec table) Not stated Not applicable Not stated Plastic not named, so the PP figure may not apply “All MAM products are made from materials free of BPA and BPS” $29.99 (4-pack) Buy at Amazon
Playtex Baby Nurser with Drop-Ins Liners, 8oz Reusable outer nurser shell; plastic type not named Not stated as a material (the “Naturalatch Comfort” nipple line) Not applicable Not applicable — uses disposable, pre-sterilized drop-in liners instead of a sleeve Not stated Plastic not named, so the PP figure may not apply “Made from BPA- and phthalate-free materials” $21.99 (3-pack) Buy at Amazon

For glass, the two borosilicate bottles are Lifefactory’s 8oz bottle at Amazon and Hevea’s Standard Neck bottle at Amazon. For silicone, Comotomo’s Gen 2 bottle, Nanobébé’s Flexy and Mason Bottle’s all-silicone bottle are sold at Amazon too, and Olababy’s GentleBottle comes in a bundle at Amazon.

Does BPA-free mean a baby bottle is safe?

Not in the sense of ruling out every material question. BPA-free stopped being optional for US baby bottles in July 2012, when the FDA formally withdrew authorization for polycarbonate resins in that category because the industry had already stopped using them — an abandonment finding, not a new toxicity ruling. “BPA-free” on a 2026 bottle package confirms the maker follows a rule that’s applied to the entire US market for over a decade. It says nothing about body material, nipple material, or whether a peer-reviewed study exists for that specific material — the set of questions the table above answers instead.

Which baby bottle to choose

Skip the BPA-free claim as a decision point; every US baby bottle has had to meet it since 2012. Start with body material instead: glass and stainless carry no shedding mechanism, and the one published microplastic figure that exists points at PP specifically. If weight and breakage risk rule out glass, a food-grade or medical-grade silicone body (Comotomo, Nanobébé, Mason Bottle, Olababy) avoids that same PP mechanism without the drop risk, at the cost of less independent evidence behind the material itself. Whichever body, check the nipple material separately — it’s the one part of any bottle that always touches milk.

What outlives one baby, and where the rest goes

Mason Bottle’s kit is the only build here designed around a replaceable part: the body is a standard wide-mouth Mason jar, so a chipped bottle costs a jar. Pura’s 18/8 stainless Kiki is the other long-horizon pick — metal that will not chip or shed. The material split returns at the end. Glass jars and aluminum are on EPA’s common-curbside list; silicone bodies, nipples, and polypropylene collars are not, and plastics overall were recycled at 8.7 percent in 2018. A body that serves a second baby beats both numbers.

Buy the Mason Bottle DIY Kit at Amazon

Frequently asked questions

Does glass still involve any plastic?

Glass removes the one mechanism with published evidence behind it: Li et al.’s 2020 Nature Food study measured polypropylene feeding bottles releasing as many as 16.2 million microplastic particles per litre under sterilizing and hot-formula conditions, and glass has no equivalent shedding pathway. Glass trades that for weight and breakage risk, and a “glass” bottle still ships with a silicone or rubber nipple, which touches the milk, and on most listings a polypropylene collar, which sits above the fill line.

Does the microplastic data apply to PPSU too?

PPSU (polyphenylsulfone) is a BPA-free plastic used in some higher-end bottle bodies for heat and shatter resistance. It isn’t the material behind the Nature Food figures — that study tested polypropylene specifically — and no maker in the table publishes shedding data for a PPSU body. Treat PPSU and PP as different plastics with different evidence behind them, not interchangeable labels.

Is there independent data on silicone leaching?

None of the silicone bottle makers here — Comotomo, Nanobébé, Mason Bottle’s silicone line, or Olababy — cite independent leaching or shedding data for their silicone bodies; each states BPA-free, food-grade, or medical-grade silicone as a maker claim rather than a published study. Silicone’s main documented trade-off is being newer to the baby-bottle shelf, not a measured release number in either direction.

Which BPA-free bottles have no plastic touching milk?

No plastic touches milk in Pura’s stainless Kiki, Comotomo, Boon’s NURSH, Nanobébé’s Flexy, Olababy’s GentleBottle, or Mason Bottle’s all-silicone line, or in any glass bottle with a silicone or rubber nipple, since the polypropylene collar most glass listings use sits above the fill line. A PP- or PPSU-bodied bottle puts that plastic directly in the milk path by definition.

Does BPA-free mean a baby bottle is safe?

BPA-free has been a floor, not a differentiator, since July 17, 2012, when the FDA amended 21 CFR to remove authorization for polycarbonate resins in baby bottles and sippy cups because the industry had already abandoned that use (77 FR 41899). Every bottle in the table meets that same 2012 rule. What separates one bottle from another is body material, nipple material, and collar plastic — none of which BPA-free addresses.

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