Time to Pack In the Polycarbonates
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 08. 1.07
It's tough being a TreeHugger reader; one week we tell you to give up bottled water and carry your own bottle; now we suggest that you to ditch your polycarbonate Nalgene. Warren discussed the possibility of leaching of Bisphenol A (BPA) from polycarbonate or Lexan bottles before; Nalgene and others say that there is no evidence that the gender bender estrogen-like chemical was leaching out and if it did, it quickly metabolized into another, harmless form.
Now, Martin Mittelstaedt of the Globe and Mail reports that a new study says it ain't so; the researchers agree that people break down some of the BPA but that "virtually everybody" in the developed world now has chronic, low level but measurable levels of the real thing, levels equivalent to other natural hormones. The study's lead author is Frederick vom Saal, a biologist at the University of Missouri and one of the world's leading authorities on bisphenol A, (and a leading critic) but it was also signed by 37 other top experts on the chemical.
Effects on men from genderbenders include enlarged breasts and reduced sperm counts. In women, earlier puberty and possible link to breast cancer. ::Globe and Mail
The plastics industry dismisses Vom Saal, but another study supports this research:
those big water cooler jugs are polycarbonates too
The Telegraph reports a study that suggests that:
Pregnant women who consume a chemical found in everyday plastic products such as food containers and water bottles could be putting their unborn children at risk of developing cancer and other diseases when they reach adulthood.
Exposure within the womb to bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in the production of plastics, caused changes linked with diseases such as obesity, cancer and diabetes, according to studies by a team from Duke University Medical Centre, North Carolina.
Testing on mice, they found that when mouse moms were fed BPA just over half were born with yellow coats, an indicator for cancer.
"The fact that the mice fed BPA had a yellow coat and likely would grow to be obese as adults demonstrates that this single substance had a system-wide effect," said Dr Dana Dolinoy, one of the team. ::Telegraph
Two studies on one day. Time to ditch the Nalgene.
Read also:Gender Bender Chemicals Also Make You Fat
alternatives: Sigg
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Ditch Bisphenol A (BPA) Now if You Want to Have Kids!
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- Recycled Plastic Workout Gear is Great for Fitness, Great for Planet
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The white, softer Nalgene bottles are fine. Its the clear and colored hard plastic containers that are in question. The white containers are the same plastic as milk jugs - which is considered the safest of all plastics for food consumption.
Also, if one only uses your existing polycarb Nalgene bottles for occasional camping and hiking only (not as a daily drinking container), why worry? There are far worse dangers to our health, like air pollution, a messed up EPA, global warming, car crashes, our car centered culture/economy and the impact on our health, suburbs, etc.
It would be a waste to toss those older bottles of yours and replace them with new non polycarb bottles.
Myself: I did buy *one* white Nalgene for day to day use but I still use the polycarb containers for water only for hiking and camping since they are unbreakable and have other advantages. I only wash the polycarb bottles with a mild organic detergent. Never in the dishwasher.
Treehugger, please don't roast an entire company - just the one product type in question please.
...and switch to what?
Question is, what do you replace the Nalgene with? Seriously, anybody have any good advice on non plastic reusable water containers? That would make a handy TreeHugger post.
I've used swing-top glass bottles for a number of years. I have them on hand because I'm a home brewer. You do have to be more careful with the glass, but in over 8 years, I haven't broken one yet.
A little bit of searching and specialtybottle.com has some nice 8oz bottles, that can be ordered in singles.
I have brown, 1 liter and 1/2 liter bottles that I use. BrewOrganic.com sells cases of the 1 liter. (scroll down to find).
There are stainless steel bottles on the market (which the glass-breakers of my family use). You can find them online if you search for "stainless steel water bottle".
Yes, there is an answer to all the worries: glass.
If you are just in need of a container at work, why not use the good old glass bottle. Refill any of the hundreds of glass container styles out there, and voila, no concerns about any leeching and even the most neutral taste of all.
And soon to be revived: ceramics. Thousands of years old, fired in over 1000 degrees, cool looking.
Why does there always have to be a high-tech fix? What we need is more behavioral awareness. It is our complacency, stupid.
In terms of using bottles that are safe for re-use, bottles that have a recycling number 2,4, or 5 are safe for re-use and are good alternatives to PC bottles.
I'll still use mine. They are convenient and I don't worry about crap like that. Just breathing is bad for you, why worry?
Aluminum?
Seems to me that aluminum drinking containers could be considered as a replacement. Don't kid yourself with Nalgene, they supply laboratory equipment that is sometimes used in animal tesing.
ReusableBags.Com sells nice steel bottles that would last forever:
http://www.reusablebags.com/store/reusable-bottles-stainless-steel-c-19_25.html?osCsid=7d178ff64ecd37f0d8788e86fe0f948b
I don't know, I've used the lexan type for years, filling it multiple times a day. I could have quiet a bit of that stuff in me. Now I have a Sigg, but that doesn't make me feel that much better, I believe this one is Aluminum (alzheimer) sealed with a "non-leaching epoxy". So who's propaganda do I believe, plus I know what goes into steel making and molding. Glass sounds ok. But then again what's it really matter after all the stuff the water already has in it once it comes out of your tap.
Check out Reusablebags.com for non-leaching metal water bottles from Sigg or Kleen Kanteen. You do have to be more careful about dropping them because they dent easily but you don't have the danger of it shattering like glass and they are light.
"I'll still use mine. They are convenient and I don't worry about crap like that. Just breathing is bad for you, why worry?"
JiltedCitizen, this attitude is exactly the reason why breathing is bad for you. Afterall, why don't you fill your bottle up with petrol and drink it? Probably because you know that benzene causes cancer and while a regular argument is that "everything causes cancer", this isn't true and we ought to try cutting out the things we are intentionally making that do. When people begin worry about that crap and take action, then we can expect changes in the world we live that benefit human health and the health of other organisms.
I'm not sure about "roasting" an entire company, because it is pretty irresonsible of them to continue to make such a dangerous product, although they do make bottles from other materials.
The only plastic that is likely safe to stick with for water container is polypropylene, PP, number five in the resin codes and it's normally translucent in appearance. There have yet to be studies indicating any negative effects associated with it (not to say there won't ever be) and most grocrey stores carry the wide-mouth, easy to clean variety. The only problem with replacing the nalgene is that I'm not sure if many people have a recycling program in their town that takes PC.
Sigg bottles are ceramic lined, but a bit hard to clean. I usually use the cloudy Nalgene bottle, but I would love a glass bottle with a plastic coating for some durability, especially for hiking.
I use a Klean Kanteen, which is stainless steel with a stainless steel cap and silicon washer (http://www.kleankanteen.com/) along with my stainless steel To-Go-Ware lunchbox (http://www.to-goware.com/) so that my food never touches plastic of any kind. If you are worried about the energy intensive production of stainless steel just remember that it should last forever. I don't picture myself or my great grandchild (some time in the future) ever needing to buy a lunchbox or water bottle.
I use a Klean Kanteen, which is stainless steel with a stainless steel cap and silicon washer (http://www.kleankanteen.com/) along with my stainless steel To-Go-Ware lunchbox (http://www.to-goware.com/) so that my food never touches plastic of any kind. If you are worried about the energy intensive production of stainless steel just remember that it should last forever. I don't picture myself or my great grandchild (some time in the future) ever needing to buy a lunchbox or water bottle.
So what's the final verdict on the Sigg bottles -- are these good/safe or just a temporary solution until the next warning comes along?
"Virtually everyone", eh? Sorry, but it sounds a bit fishy to me. If this kind of BPA issue was in every plastic product that contained some kind of food or drink, wouldn't "virtually everyone" have some form of cancer? Wouldn't we all have indicators for obesity, cancer, and birth defects?
Ah-fear mongering. Don't ya just love it?
Liam--
Your petrol drinking argument is rather flawed. I don't drink petrol because I can't imagine it would taste all that great, regardless of whether or not my consumption of it was lead to cancer.
As for the "Everything causes cancer" issue-Jilted is right. It seems like EVERYTHING causes cancer nowadays. Out of my entire extended family, I've known exactly *one* person with cancer, and drinking out of a plastic Nalgene bottle was not the cause.
I use a cellular phone, drink of out a plastic or aluminum bottle, occasionally use non-stick pans, and live in an urban environment. I don't have cancer yet. If all I did all day was worry about getting cancer from breathing the air, drinking water out of the tap, or calling my mother on my cellular phone, I'd never get ANYTHING worthwhile done.
We're all going to die someday-whether it be from cancer, AIDS, old age, heart failure, or getting hit by an oncoming train. Don't worry so much--you could get cancer.
For all those looking for an alternative... might I suggest Stainless Steel? Lighter and more durable than glass or ceramics and nearly as inert (if you can safely boil acid solutions - aka tomato sauce for spaghetti - in it, it's not going to leach anything into water).
Two manufactures that I know of:
Kleen Kanteen (posted previously on TH) - http://www.kleankanteen.com/
Guyot Designs (never before mentioned that I'm aware of) - http://www.guyotdesigns.com/stainlessbottles?sc=11&category=-111
The Globe and Mail link is not correct (leads to the Telegraph). Here is the correct link below.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070801.wlchemical01/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20070801.wlchemical01
It only takes 2 parts per billion for bisphenol-A to be a threat because hormones are active at this level or lower, and I believe that from what I've heard, seen and read over the years.
I go with stainless steel mugs and even thermos style (not necessarily brand) jugs. The plastic bottles are generally fine for occasional consumption. A minimal amount dissolves into the drink. The problem with the longer use bottles is that the plastic dissolves more easily with each refill, especially if damaged from micro-cracks from dropping, mixing, higher solubility with hot fluids, and such. The hard plastics are also not very well guarded against biological deposits from saliva, or soap stains upon washing. That stuff won't take nearly as long to be harmful, even if not as harmful ultimately as the bisphenol-A, with only things like cold and flu and other less permanent conditions being spread. If you must use a bottle, I'd recommend the type soft drinks are sold in, and change it once a week or so as you buy a new bottle. That way, you never get an "old" bottle more prone to leach and pass on deposits from soaps or reconsume deposits from your saliva... provide you don't share drinks like some sports teams.
[quote] Seems to me that aluminum drinking containers could be considered as a replacement. Don't kid yourself with Nalgene, they supply laboratory equipment that is sometimes used in animal tesing. [/quote]
Thats like saying don't buy X brand of knives because some guy murdered his wife with one of them.
On a differnt note, I once owned a very fat pet mouse, with off white fur (black eyed). She died of a tumor (cancer?). I wonder if she was "yellow" as the article says?
I have a filtration system in my house and they give you 6 one liter glass bottles to take with you, aquasana, I would think they would sell the bottles separately
Allison,
oh noes, cancer!? no more worrying for me then. :P Thank you for bringing that up, i try not to worry about death, but i do care about life. It seems that organizations such as the EPA set exposure limits to certain chemicals for the same reasons.
What i probably should have emphasized was that people living in proximity to polycarbonate producing factories are more likely to suffer from poor health (the key ingredients of polycarbonate being phenol, acetate and phosgene, but then then there's the catalysts...). And, mybe i'm a crazy hippie, but i think we all share this planet and nothing can truly be isolated (take a deep breath and you've likely inhaled some oxygen or nitrogen that i have exhaled at some point in time). Purchasing nalgene bottles encourages the use of such chemicals in further production of polycarbonate, and it's only a matter of time before a new bottle design renders the old ones psychologically obsolete. Short of that, many baby bottles are made of PC, which is not only a questionnable practice but it raises the question of how many people heat their milk in the bottle, in a microwave.
i'm not ready to believe that everything causes cancer, judging by how little we actually know when it comes to genetics. i would be more of the opinon that DNA telomeres are like wicks on a stick of dynamite, eventually the depolymerization reaches the important coding regions and it's over for that protein. i despise the line "further research is required" but i believe it.
Pointing out that you don't have cancer yet does not exclude you, your children(?), or anyone's children (a few generations from now), from the effects of bisphenol acetate. "Indicators for obesity and cancer" are generally difficult to identify because there is so much we don't know about our own bodies. Also, no one i know was born with a yellow coat like those mice.
i mentioned the petrol because i know many people who seem to like the smell of it.
"Thats like saying don't buy X brand of knives because some guy murdered his wife with one of them."
That is completely wrong. Nalgene making bottles specifically for animal testing is like a company making knives just for murderers. It's not like Nalgene makes bottles that just happen to get used for test animals.
Allison, if taste is your concern, do you drink anti-freeze? It tastes good. If I made sweet-tasting petrol, would you drink it?
You don't have cancer from all your activities, but how old are you? And are you aware that things which cause cancer do not do it in ALL people? Still, they cause cancer. If you're Okay with the risk, fine. No one can or should stop you. But don't jump on those of us who rely more on science and weigh risks than on your word that it'll all be Okay.
you can try switching to stainless steel bottles
http://www.kleankanteen.com/
you can find these at REI
I wish that next to the scientific terms for plastic you would put the recycling number next to it. I drink out of a glass or cup at home but when I go somewhere it drink out of a #5 or #7. Is this what your talking about??
This post scared the crap out of me since my wife is 38 weeks pregnant and drinks 5-6 Nalgene bottles full of water each day. After following all the links, the Telegraph study was on rodents, not humans, and the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority, thanks Nalgene) has references to studies showing that rodents absorb the chemicals differently and are significantly more affected by the resulting chemical. The Globe study does say that levels of BPA are too high in many people, but it's a big stretch to say that using a Nalgene bottle will give your unborn child cancer. All that being said, I'm ordering a Guyot right now.
To the best of my knowledge there is only one wide mouth stainless steel bottle on the market and it is made by guyot designs. www.guyotdesigns.com. They basically make a stainless steel nalgene bottle.
To the best of my knowledge there is only one wide mouth stainless steel bottle on the market and it is made by guyot designs. www.guyotdesigns.com. They basically make a stainless steel nalgene bottle.
And what the bottled water companies have now done is plant a seed of doubt in even the most concerned environmentalist. Wow. What a way to stop a freight train of an argument against bottled water than by making everybody nervous about Polycarbonate. No point in debating that science amongst ourselves. Let's not let "them" make us waste our energy and just agree that if you're worried, buy stainless steel. Buy something else. But please don't forget the BIG issue and that is that our tap water is just fine in most places. And we don't need bottled water.
So what's the final verdict on the Sigg bottles
I love Sigg bottles. My husband and I just got two of them and we use them every day.
I purchased several SIGG bottles for my son. I noticed after about a week that the interior of the bottle smelled fishy. I do not put them in the dishwasher. I use warm water and a mild, and all natural soap to clean them. I wonder if anyone else has had this problem.
When I first heard about this issue I went to get Sigg bottle. Mine tastes like metal. Like bad metal, not like water from a stainless steel travel mug. I've tried cleaning it with everything (both environmentally friendly and not) and nothing seems to help. Maybe the liner on mine is defective? I guess I'll try a Kleen Kanteen next. In the mean time, I'll still use my Nalgene. And I have to agree with those above who say that you can only worry about so much before you drive yourself and others crazy. BTW, good recommendation on the To-Go Ware lunchbox, I've been looking for one of those everywhere since I saw a program on the Indian dabba lunchbox.
Alright, well I've had a nalgene-like water bottle for about 7 years, and the last two years have been drinking out of it pretty frequently.. Is it too late for me? Are the side effects extremely noticable, and can they be prevented in any way.. for eg, if i lay off the nalgene?