BPA - Throw out your #7 Nalgenes!

Nalgene water bottles and baby bottles made with plastic #7 are extremely hazardous to your health because they contain BPA (an artificial estrogen). The evidence is virtually indisputable and has been downplayed by companies producing this plastic for several decades.

What does the #7 represent? Most plastic containers are marked (usually on the bottom) with a number within a triangle with arrows – commonly known as a recycling symbol. These numbers, known as the resin identification coding system, were created in 1988 to facilitate recycling programs across the country. These recycling numbers can range from #1 to #7, depending on the type of plastic. The #7 recycling label is a catchall indicator for plastics made with a resin other than those in the #1 to #6 designations, or made of more than one resin. The #7 category not only includes polycarbonate, but also includes compostable plastics made of organic material and other types of plastic that do not necessarily contain BPA (Bisphenol-A). For example, our new Everyda™ line manufactured with Eastman’s Tritan™ copolyester is a #7, but does not include BPA.

What's wrong with it? The conclusion from the Chapel Hill panel, a group of university scientists studying the effects of BPA from these bottles on humans, concluded that there is an increased risk in prostate and breast cancer, uro-genital abnormalities in male babies, a decline in semen quality in men, early onset of puberty in girls, metabolic disorders including insulin resistant (type 2) diabetes and obesity, and neurobehavioral problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The scientific panel found over 95% of people they tested had active, and therefore dangerous, levels of BPA in their bodies. Don't listen to companies or people who state that the levels humans are exposed to from their bottles are "safe".

Nalgene has a whole part of their website that is dedicated to talking about BPA. They are even "transitioning from polycarbonate to other materials". You can make your own conclusions from that...

But PLEASE don't stop using water bottles! There are good durable water bottles out there, plastic ones not made with polycarbonate and ones that are made of metal. Both of which I would highly recommend people using. The United States has an obsession with bottled water, so here are a few scary facts:

* Last year, Americans spent $15 billion on bottled water, even though bottled water isn’t healthier or safer than tap water.
* While the EPA regulates the quality of public water supplies, the agency has no authority over bottled water. Some studies indicate that certain brands of bottled water test positive for chemical and bacterial contamination at higher levels than tap water.
* Americans went through about 50 billion plastic water bottles last year, 167 for each person. We pitch into landfills 38 billion water bottles a year - more than $1 billion worth of plastic (while the recycling rate for this particular kind of plastic is only 23%).
* We’re moving 1 billion bottles of unnecessary water around a week in ships, trains, and trucks in the United States alone. That’s a weekly convoy equivalent to 37,800 18-wheelers delivering water.



Diane Rehm did a whole show about BPA on NPR last week after a draft report by The National Toxicology Program found there is 'some concern' that exposure to BPA could lead to human health risks. She had 5 very knowledgeable guests: Steven Hentges, American Chemistry Council PhD Senior Director Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group; Frederick vom Saal reproductive scientist and professor, Division of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia; Warren Foster director center for reproductive care and reproductive biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario; John Bucher associate director, National Toxicology Program, National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences; Tony Clement Health Minister, Canada.

Here is an article that I think takes a non-biased look at BPA: BPA is cause for concern, but not hysteria

Bottom line... just get rid of your #7s.

(Got to give credit where credit is due. The idea to post and many of the points for this post were taken from another blog)