Nalgene To Stop Using Toxic Plastic

The New York Times is reporting today that:

Nalgene, the brand that popularized water bottles made from hard, clear and nearly unbreakable polycarbonate, will stop using the plastic because of growing concern over one of its ingredients.

Nalgene brand water bottles had used bisphenol-a, which some studies in animals linked to hormonal changes.

The decision by Nalgene Outdoor Products, a unit of Thermo Fisher Scientific, based in Rochester, came after reports that the Canadian government would declare the chemical bisphenol-a, or BPA, toxic. Some animal studies have linked the chemical to changes in the hormonal system.

Those reports also prompted many of Canada's largest retailers, including Wal-Mart Canada, to remove food-related products made with plastics containing the compound chemical, like baby bottles, toddler sipping cups and food containers, from their stores this week.

This announcement comes hot on the heels of the rumor that "the Canadian government is said to be ready to declare as toxic a chemical widely used in plastics for baby bottles, beverage and food containers as well as linings in food cans."

According to Wednesday's New York Times article:

A person with knowledge of the government's chemical review program spoke on the condition he not be named because of a confidentiality agreement. He said the staff work to list the compound, called bisphenol-a, or B.P.A., as a toxic chemical was complete and was recently endorsed by a panel of outside scientists.

A public announcement by Health Canada may come as early as Wednesday but could be delayed until the end of May. Canada would be the first country to make a health finding against B.P.A., which has been shown to disrupt the hormonal systems of animals.

More on Nalgene and the toxic chemical here and here.

Comments

[deluxebrand]

Read the blog at www.ecomoderate.com

very interesting stuff about plastics..

[PlanetKansas]

I can taste the plastic in any bottled water and I started using Nalgene because it left no aftertaste.

I wonder why the bottled water industry hasn't been questioned.

[Jess27]

It's about time govts start looking at these toxins. It's too bad that will not happen in the US.

[avicenna]

The Canadian gov't officially banned baby bottles from being made with plastics containing BPA and many stores had started pulling BPA-containing products off the shelves about a year ago because of a series of scientific reports showing that BPA acted as an endocrine disruptor mimicking steroidal hormones - estrogen in particular and could potentiate the risk and/or development of hormone-dependent cancers and disorders. This is a landmark acknowledgment; however, I fear that we have an uphill battle because BPA is just one of many toxic manufactured compounds that we have surrounded ourselves with. That nonstick lining (teflon) also has a string of adverse effects that DuPont has fought for some time, and BPA is not the only plastic compound that can function as an endocrine disruptor - there is a fairly long-list of related molecules. The best thing would be if the manufacturers saved us time from fighting the "lack of direct evidence" claim and worked with both scientists and policy makers to come up with a solution on what to do with these products and to determine in what situation their harm is minimal (example - storage of cold, inert substances as opposed to warm liquids with volatile solvents that are likely to be consumed).

[anastasiabeaverhousen]

I think this is only the beginning. For years now, I have NEVER cooked or boiled food that comes in those little plastic bags with the black trays. I have always been convinced that the heat releases something from the plastic into the food.

No proof, just looking at it logically, I decided to remove the food from the plastic container, toss the black tray and put the food into good old Corning Ware.

Heloise I am not, but think about it.......

[FunGuy13]

I agree with you Anastasia...& I tossed all my non-stick pans out a long time ago...I also amd trying to go totally plactic free (stainless steel & glass) when it comes to my food, i.e. storage & cooking...

[dixieluke]

Does anyone know how to recycle the old bottles. Are they acceptable in most recycling programs?

[kellygrrrl]

Pottery Barn has some great Steel water bottles.

I prefer the glass but not so great for the kids.

[mayrose]

Glass or stainless steel. There is a company that makes stainless steel sippy cups and water bottles-I need to order some. The are more expensive of course. I don't remember the site but go to conciouschoice.org and you can find them through that.

[mommadona]

Oh, shoot.

Back to glass....

[kellygrrrl]

dona, check out the stainless water bottles at Pottery Barn.

especially if you have daughters, get the plastic out of the house.

[wolfgangmo]

Or you could just google stainless steel water bottles and forget about shilling for pottery barn.

Heck, my local co-op has stainless steel water bottles as does my local sporting goods and camping supplies store.

Just sayin' that you don't need to have a "designer" label to get a good quality product. FYI I checked the pottery barn site and they were about 4 times as expensive for a comparable product.

[ljsfolly]

and where is the US on this one? Always the last or does someone need to file a suit? I would thing people with kids must do the right thing and get the plastic crap out of their kids hands. Baby bottles? Sippy cups? Adults can decide on their own but kids need someone to do the action for them. What is left that is safe?