Hot Water + Polycarbonate Bottles = More Gender-Benders
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 01.30.08
We have been saying for a while that polycarbonates bottles can leach Bisphenol A, a gender bender chemical, and that it was time to ditch them; now a new University of Cincinnati study shows that the temperature of the liquid inside has the most impact on how much BPA is released.
According to Martin Mittelstaedt of the Globe and Mail, "Adding boiling water to polycarbonate plastic bottles causes a dramatic spike (55 times as much!) in the amount of bisphenol A, or BPA, leaching from containers into drinks, according to a U.S. research team.
The finding suggests that parents sterilizing polycarbonate baby bottles by heating them in water or in a microwave may be inadvertently increasing the amount of the estrogen-mimicking chemical leaching from the containers. It also indicates hikers who use the bottles as a thermos to store hot tea or liquids may be doing the same."
According to Science Daily, Scott Belcher, PhD, and his team found when the same new and used polycarbonate drinking bottles were exposed to boiling hot water, BPA, an environmental estrogen, was released 55 times more rapidly than before exposure to hot water.
"Inspired by questions from the climbing community, we went directly to tests based on how consumers use these plastic water bottles and showed that the only big difference in exposure levels revolved around liquid temperature: Bottles used for up to nine years released the same amount of BPA as new bottles." ::Science Daily
So lose the Nalgene and read up on Bisphenol A on TreeHugger:
Time to Pack In the Polycarbonates :
Gender Bender Chemicals Also Make You Fat
Camelbak Introduces Genderbender Free Bottles
and go to Planet Green to learn how to Choose Baby-Safe Bottles
Thats why I love my Klean Kanteen
Polymers expand and contract with temperature variations just like any other rigid material. The difference with polymers over metal is that pore spaces open up when heat is applied, which enable leaching of course.
Sounds more like you should use hot liquids in the nalgene... not so much a problem with the bottle itself with cold liquid. Could be wrong.
Duh? I mean Duhhhh! Scott Belcher needed a team to discovered that applying heat accelerates the breakdown? What is his PhD in, liberal studies?
just use glass you can recycle it!
Ditch drinking out of anything that's not PP, HDPE or LDPE. All other plastics leach chemicals simliar to this.
Nalgene is just a faddy bottle, it will hit critical mass and will no longer be cool. Meanwhile, glass bottle for me.
My PC bottle specifically said "Not for use with hot liquids."
Does anyone have any recommendations on metal bottles? I need to buy a few.
So great that "anonymous' is back with his version of the Republican talking points.
How informative and witty. Wow.
Do the polymers go back to "normal" after they cool down? In other words, is your Nalgene bottle a BPA leaching machine forever after you put a hot liquid in it?
According to the study, they say bottles leaching up to 32 nanograms and hour. Nanograms sound pretty small to me. Is that actually enough to have an effect?
Plastic, not in my kitchen cupboards for quite sometime now. Glad to see more and more info about it online. Also read the articles below.
www.dare2baware.com/you-are-what-you-eat-drink-and-breathe/
www.home-schooling-uk.com/article/6045/endocrine_disruptors_bisphenola_found_in_common_plastics_and_pesticides_can_make_children_obese
My wife and I bought ourselves a few stainless steel bottles for Christmas by guyotdesigns.
They have the same qualities as Klean Kanteen with the difference that they are wide mouth, so all your Nalgene attachments fit on their bottles!
The bottles get extremely hot when you put hot liquids in them, so make sure you use your hanky (the same one you use to dry your hands in place of paper towels) to protect your fingers.
Check out their website (www.guyotdesigns.com). They have many different shapes and attachments and their staff is very friendly!
We love our new bottles and the Gription is very cool too!
Thanks for the recommendation for http://www.guyotdesigns.com. I will check that out.
Love my Klean kanteen bottle as well. My son uses the small 12 ouncer and leves it. We moved completely away from disposable plastic bottles.
FYI For Canadian readers, I got mine at Plastic Free Bottles. They also have many links to Bisphenol and environmental articles concerning water bottles.
Maddie
I like Thinksport bottles (www.thinksportbottles.com) . They are made of stainless steel and are totally free of BPA and are tested for other toxic chemicals as well. There is a nifty screen insert that the other bottles don't have. You can fill it with hot or cold liquids and the hot stuff stays hot forever and cold stuff stays cold forever. The company also has a line of baby bottles that are free of BPA. I like supporting a company that is dedicated to making a difference on this issue. I don't know... I'm sort of optimistic because I think the more attention these issue get, the more people will choose safer options and eventually we'll shift to using safer products that are safer for us and the planet we share.... I hope!
To Ryan:
(Is it proper etiquette to reply to someone via comment posting?)
32 nanograms may seem infinitely small, but since we are dealing with hormones (enzymes that have been refined for millions of years) you find it doesn't take a lot to get the job done. An insulin syringe will normally carry only 2 or 3 mL, and it's likely an aqueous solution.
As a a Transexual I'm a bit offended and concerned with the framing of this article. There are numerous causes for Transgenderism and this could be a potential cause. but "gender bending" is a inappropriate way to label.
There is a lot of talk out there about BPA (pro and con) and I appreciate the recent posts you've provided about it.
I just recycled my colored Nalgene bottles today but kept the clouded older ones since they are BPA free. I suppose it's also due to the attachment I've gained over the years of climbing, skiing and other things with my Nalgene bottles.
For anyone still loving Nalgene like me but doesn't want BPA (disclaimer, I don't work for Nalgene) they put up a website showing the different bottles they offer. http://www.nalgenechoice.com/
While they say that the polycarbonate ones with BPA are "safe", which I disagree with, I'm glad to see they are listening to customers like me for their future product lines.