from what I know of bisphenol A, it is secreted by many of our plastic products (including soda/water, yogurt, etc). it is an estrogenic type hormone and has linked to many problems. it has the ability to disrupt certain endocrine pathways in the body due to its estrogen mimicking action.

because science has not determined the extent of the damage that bisphenol a can do, i am hesitant to spend the money to become bisphenol a free. however, when i have children i will do my best to keep their exposure to a minimum (they shouldnt be drinking a lot of soda anyways due to cavities, diabetes etc etc). as grown adults our risks are probably small, much smaller than a developing child.

I have heard about this before, but I also heard that the secretion is most prevalent when the bottles are heated. I heard that second hand so not sure how reliable, but what I gathered from it was just to not allow the water in your bottle to go through temp fluctuations (like if you left it in your car in the summer). I usually just get rid of water in my nalgene if it gets warm and refresh it with cold water. And obviously, cleaning nalgene's is important for many reasons, so I do that too. No way I'm gonna stop using them...those things are so convenient

I have heard this, and it is different for different types of plastic bottles -- in particular, the very hard plastic that Nalgenes use has some risks. They are ok for a while, but they do break down with time. One guideline I've read is that they are ok until they start to look a bit cloudy. That is a sign that the plastic is deteriorating and it is time for a new one.

Someone mentioned Sigg bottles -- and those are actually one of the solutions by being made of a metal and not a hard plastic, and they are designed not to let chemicals and such into your fluids. Another "safe" plastic bottle is the slightly softer ones, like most bike bottles (although I don't have the name of the plastic handy). So my solution is to use my Sigg or bike bottles during the day, and I won't buy a new Nalgene but will use the ones I've got until they are cloudy.

The problem with refilling the disposable ones is that their plastic is made to not leak much, but it will leak more and more over time. So the more you use one, the more it leaks stuff into your water.

Bike bottles, and the softer plastic camping bottles are made from HDPE (High Density PolyEthylene), a petroleum based plastic... HDPE, and it's cousin UHMW are the most common "soft" flexible plastic in use.

note: HDPE is #2 on the plastics chart.

It would seem common sense should dictate things...

It's known there is some leeching. It's believed in the studies thus far that the leeching is no where near the levels to cause actual harm. At the same time, it's known that the studies don't have the longevity of, say, those done on standard metal bottles like Siggs (thanks Kylie, I was forgetting the name).

Luisa and I use Siggs as our standard bottles nowadays. The reason, breast lumps/cancer are one of the first things that can go wrong from bisphenol a leeching. While the likelihood of enough grams/day accumulating is very very low, there's the option of buying a slightly more expensive bottle to not worry about it at all. The simple fact is that from the studies done it's believed that there are no long term health risks, there's no actual long term studies, as the material simply hasn't been around long enough.

Even Triathlon?! ;)

I should add as an EDIT to my earlier post that the more flexible (read: nice) bike bottles are made of LDPE, and not HDPE.

Don't forget chamois cream. If that stuff isn't bad for you, I don't know what is.

I think this is along the same lines as being scared of Dihydrogen Monoxide, a substance with a 100% kill rate in humans and is found in all major cities world wide. For more information on this substance I sujest you all read http://www.dhmo.org/ .

I think humans' approach to risk is one of our most irrational traits, and I think it also depends on what we think we're controlling vs someone else. People can be afraid of planes but happy to play video-game slalom on a 6-lane highway. Or we'll do research and spend extra money on "safer" plastics (or ones who's dangers haven't been written about yet), then put that bottle in a cage and go bombing down a hill with inattentive SUV traffic and sidestreets at 35+ mph on a spindly little bike.

I think part of the toxicity concern with the estrogen-like substances that leech out of plastics may be more one of detrimental changes over generations, such as things that can cause genetic mutations. With ecological concerns, we ask what kind of earth we'll be leaving to our grandchildren; I guess this one might have us asking what kind of [great-great-...]-grandchildren we'll be leaving to the earth. In either case, the proliferation of single-use plastic water bottles is bad news. It's true that little has been published from long-term investigations into any of these compounds. The fact is that we're the subjects in the study (a lot like lab mice: running on treadmills, drinking water out of specially designed devices, sometimes eating very specifically engineered foods, ...).

--M

Well, I probably won't stop using my Nalgene, but I did pick up a couple of Sigg bottles the other day.... gotta say that I really like them! Super light, and they are surprisingly nice to drink out of. They also have really cool designs, which Lucy loves. (Had to get the girl one too!)

Anyone have experience with the "sports tops" for the Sigg bottles? How exactly do those work?

Ok... but how do they work? Do you have to suck on them to get water out? Obviously you can't squeeze them, so you would either have to suck on it, or depend on gravity, right?

I'm calling P.E.T.A. on you Chunky! lol never thought of that before though good call.

Alright!! I love pitas. Especially pizza pitas. That's one of the few things I know how to cook

IMO, those sigg bottles sound kind of ghetto. I think I'll take my chances with a bottle that I can squeeze, that won't bite me, and that I can replace cheaply, even if it might cause cancer.

Haha

For the top, yeah, it kinda sucks. It never really closes on me, but it's a more patient drinking with it. Gravity helping the water, and having to give air time to get in. I think -- I haven't used it in months. I have enough bike bottles around (we have 2 cabinets dedicated to them) so I tend to just use those.

As for taking chances with one you can squeeze, Chunky, bike bottles are just fine -- its the hard plastic used in nalgenes that is being studied now (and the disposable bottles you get gatorade or water in like from a machine).

I always figured Nalgene bottles (Lexan type plastic) were safer than most. All I know is water tastes great, even if you leave water in them for a week or two. This is based on the scientific of leaving one in my car for weeks, and then being really thirsty and not caring if it's been in there forever. You can't say the same about any other kinds of bottles.

Really Good!!!!(nacho libre voice)

"As for the hubbub about Bisphenol A, my company, Eastman Chemical, has come out with a bisphenol free plastic called Tritan. We have started making Camelbak's plastic and Gerber is calling too!" - Twoby

I can't read a PIC number on my 710ml Gatorade bottle, what do you think?

PoC

Sorry for the

But, I thought I should update this thread, since I heard a story about it on the radio yesterday. For those of you that like reading dry scientific papers, your dream has come true. The EPA has released a report about Bisphenol A. Read it here.

Basically, they are agreeing with other agencies which have done research on the chemical. It appears that it may do reproductive harm, and interfere with hormones that could delay puberty and other development in children. What's worse? Apparently the chemical is found in the lining of many baby formula cans....

thanks Shiba.

Repost?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080424/hl_nm/nalgene_lawsuit_dc