Mountain Equipment Co-op has become the first retailer in Canada to stop selling some products that contain bisphenol A. One of the products Mountain Equipment Co-Op will take off the shelves is the Nalgene water bottle, made by Nalge Nunc International Corp. of Rochester, New York.

Another reason why I like stainless over plastic.
http://www.guyotdesigns.com/stainlessbottles?sc=11



Here's the article.

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/TopStories/ContentPosting.aspx?feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V2&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20071206%2fbisphenol_a_071206&showbyline=True


OTTAWA — In a move applauded by environmental activists, Mountain Equipment Co-op has become the first retailer in Canada to stop selling some products that contain bisphenol A, a chemical used to make some plastics that has been linked in some studies to increased incidence of cancer and other diseases.

David Akin
Mountain Equipment Co-op announced that it has stopped selling polycarbonate water bottles and food containers until guidance is provided by the government of Canada on the health risks posed by BPA.
Mountain Equipment Co-op announced that it has stopped selling polycarbonate water bottles and food containers until guidance is provided by the government of Canada on the health risks posed by BPA.

CTV News has learned that the Vancouver-based Co-op started removing some water bottles and food containers that contain bisphenol A (BPA) although the retailer says it may reverse the decision once a Canadian federal government review of the chemical's safety is complete next spring.

"Inconclusive science and regulatory uncertainty presently surrounds bisphenol-A (BPA), a synthetic chemical that is an essential 'building block' of polycarbonate plastic," Tim Southam, a spokesperson for Mountain Co-Op, said in a statement e-mailed to CTV News. "For these reasons, Mountain Equipment Co-op has stopped selling polycarbonate water bottles and food containers until guidance is provided by the Government of Canada on the health risks posed by BPA."

Health Canada is expected to publish its conclusions on the health risks of BPA in May.

A spokesman for the plastics industry, though, says Mountain Equipment Co-Op (MEC) is being needlessly cautious. "While MEC's intentions are good, their action is not likely to have any impact on the health and safety of their customers," said Steven Hentges, the Washington, D.C.-based executive director of the Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group.

"Consumer products made from bisphenol A have a very long track record of safe use and an equally long record of safety testing. No alternatives have been so well tested or so well vetted by government agencies."

Hentges and others cite reviews, for example, by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration which concluded that no bans or restrictions on BPA are currently required.

But activists opposed to the use of bisphenol A point to more than 100 independent studies which link the chemical to increased incidence of cancer, obesity, and early onset of puberty.

"We've got study after study showing that its harmful, particularly for children," said Aaron Freeman of Environmental Defence, an advocacy group. "There are safe and available alternatives ready on the market."

One of the products Mountain Equipment Co-Op will take off the shelves is the Nalgene water bottle, made by Nalge Nunc International Corp. of Rochester, New York. The Nalgene bottle has become a popular brand among, for example, college students. At its Web site, Nalge Nunc International says, "Based on the findings of the Food and Drug Administration, The Environmental Protection Agency, The American Plastics Council and other reliable sources from around the world, we continue to firmly believe in the safety of our products."

But certain products containing BPA "that are technically specific for our core users," according to Southam, will remain for sale by Mountain Equipment Co-Op. For example, a water filter sold by the co-op and used by backcountry campers to ensure they have clean drinking water has BPA. In general, the co-op has kept products for which there is no functional equivalent.

MEC has 11 stores across the country and 2.6 million members.

Other Canadian retailers are looking at their options on BPA.

"We are keen on Health Canada's guidance, but have also placed this firmly on our radar as we engage chemical specialists (such as) vendors, NGOs and environmental groups as part of our overall sustainability program," said Kevin Groh, a spokesman for Wal-Mart Canada Inc. of Mississauga, Ont.

"I think it's a just matter of time -- and not very much time -- before this chemical's off the market," said Freeman.

But plastics industry associations are not ready to concede that point yet. "Scientific and government bodies around the world have reviewed bisphenol A and in every case, these reviews strongly support the safety of consumer products, including water bottles, that contain trace levels of bisphenol A," said Hentges. "We are optimistic that, once Health Canada completes their review of bisphenol A, MEC will again stock the trusted products that their customers have relied upon for years."
[color:#FF0000][/color]

I'm not surprised the MEC has done this. They did the same with their plastic camp fuel bottles earlier in the year.

I've heard for years that BPA (from water bottles) is harmful but while advocacy groups claim there are hundreds of studies proving it...I've yet to see one in writing.

Here's some more hype:

http://www.radicalcongruency.com/20050405-are-nalgene-bottles-unsafe-1

Are reusable water bottles dangerous?
[quoting from this site]
I decided just to re-use the flimsy plastic water bottles for as long as I could. I was happy with this solution for quite some time, until I learned the horrible truth: HARMFUL BACTERIA! Yes, with each refreshing sip I was backwashing germs into my water and providing them with a warm, wet place to grow.

So I did what any bacteria-fearing primate would do and bought a nice, reusable Nalgene bottle. Boy oh boy, nothing makes you look or feel more like a tree-hugging, mushroom hunting nature girl than one of those bright, hard plastic bottles! Until it comes out that Nalgene gives you BRAIN DAMAGE! Yes, Bisphenol A, used to make Nalgene bottles and other hard plastic projects, apparently seeps into the body and can, in certain doses, mess with the function of the brain. (I�m paraphrasing/exaggerating and not everybody agrees, so look it up.) I could almost dismiss the fear as environmentalist fear mongering, but it turns out that California legislators take the threat seriously enough to consider banning it in children�s products.

Wow, lots of big allegations there, and since BoingBoing is read by like 40,000 people a day, I thought I’d better chime in. “In certain doses” is an important phrase, but one that’s easy to gloss over.

First, I use a Nalgene bottle every day, and have since about 2000. I had my first bottle for about three years, but replaced it when a friend who is completing her Ph.D. in biology said that she attended a seminar on endocrine disruptors, and that an old Nalgene can leach chemicals that mess with hormones such as estrogen, and estrogen-like substances in the environment. She said that it’s especially important to not put a Nalgene bottle in the dishwasher, since the ultra-hot water can cause the polycarbonate to break down and leach Bisphenol A (if I remember correctly - this is the chemical the above links reference, so I’m assuming she was talking about the same chemical). Finally, she said you should replace your bottle around the time the print wears off the outside, which prompted me to adopt a new bottle, since mine had long since become bare.

So what’s the deal on Bisphenol A? This industry group says Bisphenol A leaches from polycarbonate, but at an absurdly low rate:

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a key building block of polycarbonate plastic. In recent years a number of researchers from government agencies, academia and industry worldwide have studied the potential for low levels of BPA to migrate from polycarbonate products into foods and beverages. These studies consistently show that the potential migration of BPA into food is extremely low, generally less than 5 parts per billion, under conditions typical for uses of polycarbonate products.

Using these results, the estimated dietary intake of BPA from polycarbonate is less than 0.0000125 milligrams per kilogram body weight per day. This level is more than 4000 times lower than the maximum acceptable or “reference” dose for BPA of 0.05 milligrams per kilogram body weight per day established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Stated another way, an average adult consumer would have to ingest more than 600 kilograms (about 1,300 pounds) of food and beverages in contact with polycarbonate every day for an entire lifetime to exceed the level of BPA that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set as safe. link

Numbers like that are subject to experimental dispute, and can sometimes be based on unrealistic extrapolation. The SF Gate article linked to above says:

But an author of one of the new studies, Thomas Zoeller, a thyroid endocrinologist and chairman of the University of Massachusetts’ biology department, said researchers had shown that humans were widely exposed to bisphenol A, a chemical that can disrupt animal hormone systems that affect the workings of the brain.

Further, it appears to accumulate at higher concentrations around the fetus — in the umbilical cord and the amniotic fluid — than in the mother’s blood, said Zoeller, a leading authority on fetal thyroid development. While it’s not clear what the affects are on humans, Zoeller and his colleagues published a study in the journal Endocrinology in February showing that, in lab animals, bisphenol A altered the ability of thyroid hormone to correctly regulate brain development.

In another study, expected in an upcoming issue of the journal Neuroscience, a University of Tokyo group found that bisphenol A inhibited the positive role of estrogen in enhancing neural connections in a part of the brain involved in the formation and retention of memory, the hippocampus. link

So I believe my friend who says that if you wear out your Nalgene bottle or abuse it, it’s going to leach endocrine disruptors. Sure, don’t let your baby eat old CDs (which are also made of polycarbonate). But this stuff about it giving you brain damage is bogus fearmongering.

As an aside, I think we’ve come to fear way too much in the US. I still want to die, some day, of something related to old age. I will not spend my days (however many are left) worrying about whether my water bottle is going to kill me. Sure, protect your family and all that. Feed them organic foods if you want. But don’t try to make every chemical in the world illegal in the state of California. Water is a chemical, after all - the word shouldn’t automatically make people afraid.

Coming soon: Part II - The bacterial culture I took from my Nalgene bottle (to include photos!)

Update:
BoingBoing now also links to this UA article, which has more on the Bisphenol A issue:

Studies done last year found popular Nalgene water bottles to be potentially toxic, but new research, done in part by a UA professor, suggests the bottles do not pose a risk.

A study done by the University of Missouri reported that a chemical called bisphenol-A seeps into water that is stored in polycarbonate plastic, the same kind used in Nalgene Lexan’s outdoor water bottles.

According to the study, published in the July 2003 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, detectable levels of BPA leaked into drinking water stored at room temperature.

Additional studies were conducted nationwide to find adverse effects of BPA, which is known to mimic the female hormone estrogen.

According to a Case Western Reserve University study, rats exposed to BPA developed aneuploidy, an abnormal loss or gain of chromosomes. The defect in humans can result in Down syndrome or cancer.

But Glenn Sipes, UA professor and department head of pharmacology, said the studies are misleading.

Sipes was a member of a research panel created by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis that studied how humans handle chemical compounds in comparison to the laboratory rats that are used for scientific research.

The purpose of the panel, which lasted two years, was to analyze recent scientific studies and find if humans handle compounds in a similar manner to rats, since rats are a common test species, Sipes said.

But Sipes said his research panel found the Nalgene studies should be interpreted with caution.

“Yes, you can report in literature that this happened or that happened,” said Sipes. “But these biological health effects did not translate into big issues of concern.”

Sipes said his panel found that humans metabolize the BPA more effectively than the rats that were used as test species. Humans also clear the chemical out of their bodies a few hours after ingestion, Sipes said.

So, basically, yes, there’s BPA in your water, but if you refill your bottle every day, there’s not much. “Detectable” doesn’t mean “a lot.” We can detect incredibly low concentrations of plenty of chemicals, and “chemical” is still not a bad word.

You'll see some (picard, I imagine you know of them), but the quantities involved are amazing. The "science" behind this is bogus, and the "news" is ten years old. The EU has tighter contamination rules than the US does, and their testing says that the BPA levels leeched from properly maintained lexan is practically nil- detectable, but not enough to pose a danger.

The amount needed to cause harm is measured in micrograms per kilogram of mass per day- the amount that is leached out into a liter of water over the course of a day is measured in nanograms. Upshot- you've got to be drinking more than you weight per day to have it effect a healthy, adult human. Any issues with sperm count and the like are more likely to rest squarely on your cell phone in your pocket, your laptop or coffee cup in your lap, and underwear that is too tight. But by the same token, I'm nervous about using a Nalgene (or a soft water bladder, although it is a different set of chemicals) if you are pregnant or nursing. Big difference between what a 20 pound body can manage and what a 120+ pound body can.

Now, there are ways you can get border line levels of BPA. One is to use high temp/high pressure autoclaves to clean your Nalgenes, the other is to use a cleaning product or method aggressive enough to really scar the lexan. The combination of the two is where the original concern came about- someone being too aggressive in their water bottle cleaning led to some infant lab rats never getting fully functioning bits. So don't be stupid and you'll be fine.

And if people want to tout the values of stainless steel bottles, there is the issue of heavy metal contamination. Stainless has 10%+ chromium and 10%(+/-2%) nickel content, and both can be detected in water stored in a stainless container for any length of time or boiled in it. The former is a mutagen and carcinogen, the latter screws with neurochemistry and is also a mutagen. And don't get me started on aluminum, OR HDPE.

Oh, wait, there isn't enough to matter with ANY of these unless you are the kind of moron who cleans his waterbottle with high molarity acids and Comet, then lets it cook in the autoclave over night. And if you are worried about mutagens or carcinogens, get over it- it all causes cancer unless it drowns, suffocates, dissolves, or crushes you first.

And personally, I hope Nalgene, since they were specifically named, looks into a defamation of character suit.

nalgene also makes HDPE bottle's. As far as i know HDPE does not leach any detectible amounts chemicals.

They works just as well, the models are identical to the Lexan models (so compatible to waterfilters, etc.) and are slightly cheaper.

I have both and i'm not worried about either. Almost everything i eat or eat from will cause something.

I will continue to use my 1 liter AquaFina widemouth bottles that are tougher, lighter and cheaper than Nalgenes. They even come pre-filled with clean water!

I don't know of any studies into HDPE (because I haven't bothered to do any research), but the difference between my lexan nalgene and my HDPE nalgene is the HDPE imparts a definite and reasonably unpleasent taste to the water while the lexan does not. Harmful or not, there must be a chemical or three leaching into the water from the HDPE. I can taste the difference, so the levels are detectable.

There's always the wisdom of Butch Cassidy to guide us,

"You can't swim?!?!? He**, the fall will probably kill you."

It probably won't be the Nalgene bottle, but rather all of the stuff in the drinking water that'll cause the problems.

"It probably won't be the Nalgene bottle, but rather all of the stuff in the drinking water that'll cause the problems."

Yes, like the dioxins from the bleach, and fluoride.

The high rate of cancer in the U.S. didn't come from drinking out of Nalgene bottles.

Sue

Funny, I switched from Nalgene HDPE bottles to Lexan because of the odour issue. (Though curiously, when I catch a whiff of those old bottles, it instantly conjures up good backpacking and camping memories. I guess I wouldn't entirely mind going back to HDPE.)

I'm still going to use my Nalgene Lexans for trips. But I won't let water sit in them for longer than I can help. I won't use them for everyday drinking containers at home. And I'm going to relegate my older, scuffed-up ones to "handwashing and emergency" use. Apparently they release more BPA as they get older.

I picked up a nice 750ml stainless steel bottle from MEC a couple of weeks ago. No heavier than a Nalgene, and it can be turned into a water boiler if necessary. Under $10, so no problem with cost.

BTW: There's also some buzz about #1 plastics, PETE, the water bottle stuff. Some say it should not be reused since it too can release a questionable chemical as it degrades. Not sure if this is truth or hype.