Living Green And Healthy - Focus On Water Bottles And BPA

I don't know any hiker/camper/kid that hasn't used these bottles.  Our family takes them on trips, camping, boating or anywhere else that we don't want to worry about broken glass. 

The following articles contain words like birth defects, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.  After reading the articles, I will probably make a few changes in our household.  It's up to us to safeguard our family's health.  I am not sharing these article to alarm anyone.  I have always believed that knowledge is power.  I also believe that the market is demand driven.  If consumers request new, safer products, companies will have no choice but to fill consumer needs.

When large retailers started pulling Nalgene products from their shelves, Nalgene responded by offering a BPA-free line.  The Nalgene bottles are manufactured in the United States, so I will probably replace the bottles I have with new Nalgene bottles.  Another "green" option would be to recycle glass drink bottles by washing them, dunking them in boiling water and refilling them with filtered water from my house.

   

Plastics Linked to Health Risks in Humans
          By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR and LINDSEY TANNER, AP

WASHINGTON (Sept. 16, 2008) -- Federal regulators on Tuesday defended their assessment that a chemical widely used in plastic baby bottles and in food packaging is safe, even as the first major study of health effects in people linked it with possible risks for heart disease and diabetes.

"A margin of safety exists that is adequate to protect consumers, including infants and children, at the current levels of exposure," Laura Tarantino, a senior Food and Drug Administration scientist, told an expert panel that has been asked for a second opinion on the agency's assessmentof bisphenol A or BPA.

Note: Please However, a study released Tuesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association suggested a new concern about BPA. Because of the possible public health implications, the results "deserve scientific follow-up," the study authors said. Using a health survey of nearly 1,500 adults, they found that those exposed to higher amounts of BPA were more likely to report having heart disease and diabetes.

But the study is preliminary, far from proof that the chemical caused the health problems. Two Dartmouth College analysts of medical research said it raises questions but provides no answers about whether the ubiquitous chemical is harmful.

FDA officials said they are not dismissing such findings, and conceded that further research is needed. "We recognize the need to resolve the concerning questions that have been raised," said Tarantino. But the FDA is arguing that the studies with rats and mice it relied on for its assessment are more thorough than some of the human research that has raised doubts.

The JAMA article was released to coincide with the FDA scientific advisers' hearing.

The FDA has the power to limit use of BPA in food containers and medical devices but last month released its internal report concluding that BPA exposure is not enough to warrant action.

Since then, another government agency released a separate report concluding that risks to people, in particular to infants and children, cannot be ruled out.

Past animal studies have suggested reproductive and hormone-related problems from BPA. The JAMA study is the largest to examine possible BPA effects in people and the first suggesting a direct link to heart disease, said scientists Frederick vom Saal and John Peterson Myers, both longtime critics of the chemical.

Still, they said more rigorous studies are needed to confirm the results.

Vom Saal is a biological sciences professor at University of Missouri who has served asan expert witness and consultant on BPA litigation. Myers is chief scientist at Environmental Health Sciences, a Charlottesville, Va., nonprofit group. They wrote an editorial accompanying the JAMA study.

BPA is used in hardened plastics in a wide range of consumer goods including food containers, eyeglass lenses and compact discs. Many scientists believe it can act like the hormone estrogen, and animal studies have linked it with breast, prostate and reproductive system problems and some cancers.

Researchers from Britain and the University of Iowa examined a U.S. government health survey of 1,455 American adults who gave urine samples in 2003-04 and reported whether they had any of several common diseases.

Participants were divided into four groups based on BPA urine amounts; more than 90 percent had detectable BPA in their urine.

A total of 79 had heart attacks, chest pain or other types of cardiovascular disease and 136 had diabetes. There were more than twice as many people with heart disease or diabetes in the highest BPA group than in the lowest BPA group. The study showed no connection between BPA and other ailments, including cancer.

No one in the study had BPA urine amounts showing higher than recommended exposure levels, said co-author Dr. David Melzer, a University of Exeter researcher.

Drs. Lisa Schwartz and Steven Woloshin of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice said the study presents no clear information about what might have caused participants' heart disease and diabetes.

"Measuring who has disease and high BPA levels at a single point in time cannot tell you which comes first," Schwartz said.

The study authors acknowledge that it's impossible to rule out that people who already have heart disease or diabetes are somehow more vulnerable to having BPA show up in their urine.

The American Chemistry Council, an industry trade group, said the study is flawed, has substantial limitations and proves nothing.

But Dr. Ana Soto of Tufts University said the study raises enough concerns to warrant government action to limit BPA exposure.

"We shouldn't wait until further studies are done in order to act in protecting humans," said Soto, who has called for more restrictions in the past.

An earlier lab experiment with human fat tissue found that BPA can interfere with a hormone involved in protecting against diabetes, heart disease and obesity. That study appeared online last month in Environmental Health Perspectives, a monthly journal published by the National Institutes of Health.

Government toxicology experts have also studied BPA and recently completed their own report based on earlier animal studies. They found no strong evidence of health hazards from BPA, but said there was "some concern" about possible effects on the brain in fetuses, infants and children.

Several states are considering restricting BPA use, some manufacturers have begun promoting BPA-free baby bottles, and some stores are phasing out baby products containing the chemical. The European Union has said that BPA-containing products are safe, but Canada's government has proposed banning the sale of baby bottles with BPA as a precaution.

 

 

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Don't Buy A Nalgene Water Bottle
Until You Read This
          by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.16.08

Dangers of Nalgene water bottles and other plastic sport water bottles

Many Nalgene waterbottles and other hardplastic sport water bottles are made of polycarbonate (#7 on the bottom) , which may leach Bisphenol A, an estrogen-like chemical. Canada is considering a ban of products containing Bisphenol A (BPA) and a new American study links it to breast cancer and early puberty, and is particularly concerned about the effect on babies. Others have raised concerns about the effect of feminizing hormones on men, such as breast enlargement or dropping semen counts. At the same time, sport water bottles are ubiquitous and we don't want people going back to buying bottled water. What should you do? Time to nix the Nalgene? We looked at our past posts and the latest reports, and suggest the following.

7 Ways to beat BPA, in order of Importance:

1.   Ditch the clear plastic baby bottles, right now. All the research that says there are problems point at the effect of the estrogen-like BPA on children as being the most significant.
2.   Tin cans are often lined in plastic BPA and sit around a long time; get rid of older tin cans, particularly if they contain tomatoes and other acidic fruits.
3.   Don't use your poly-carbonate bottle for hot drinks.
4.   Poly-carbonate bottles get crazed and cracked as they get older; that increases surface area. Get rid of old ones.
5.   Replace your Poly-carbonate bottle with a Sigg, Kleen Kanteen, or the new BPA free Camelbak, particularly if pregnant or pre-pubescent.
6.   Replace jugs where water sits around a long time, like Brita knockoffs. (Brita says they are BPA free)
7.   Stop using jugged water cooler water, get a filter and cooler that uses city water. It is a big jug so there probably isn't much of a problem, but why are you drinking bottled water anyway?

Don't worry about poly-carbonates in non-food related products like CDs and DVDs. but keep them out of babies' mouths.

The Bisphenol A Controversy

This list is based on a bit of consultation with our resident chemist, but the issue is controversial. The plastics industry says there is no problem, as does the maker of Nalgene water bottles.

Energy and Commerce Chair John Dingell says “There are serious health concerns about whether Bisphenol A is safe, not only for adults, but for children and infants," and is concerned that the Food and Drug Administration's policies on BPA are "entirely dependent on two studies' that are both funded by a subsidiary of the American Chemistry Council, which represents plastic resins manufacturers."

According to Chemistry World, The FDA maintains that there is no reason to ban orrestrict the use of BPA in food or drink containers because human exposure levels to the chemical from these sources is too low to have any adverse effects.

See also: BPA Danger may be greater from Tin Cans than Water Bottles

More in TreeHugger:

Polycarbonate Water bottles
Canada Calls Bisphenol A "Dangerous"
Time to Pack In the Polycarbonates
Bottled Water - Lifting the Lid :
MEC Nixes Nalgenes

Health effects:
Hot Water + Polycarbonate Bottles = More Gender-Benders
Gender Bender Chemicals Also Make You Fat

Alternatives:
A Safer Sippy for Your Little Green Angels
Stefani Water Purifiers: an Alternative to Plastic

Don't Buy A Nalgene Water Bottle Until You Read This : TreeHugger

 

 

 

 

Update From Nalgene Site:

In recent years, studies have suggested that polycarbonate plastics such as the ones Nalgene used may leach endocrine disruptors. Nalgene denies that the quantity leached from their products posed a significant threat to health. Among the secreted chemicals, Bisphenol A (BPA) is an area of concern as it binds to estrogen receptors, thus altering gene expression. Other research has found that fixatives in polycarbonateplastics can cause chromosomal error in cell division called aneuploidy. Nalgene claims these chemicals are only potentially released from Nalgene products when used at temperatures outside of the designed range.

In November 2007, Mountain Equipment Co-op removed all hard, clear polycarbonate plastic water bottles (including Nalgene-branded product) from their shelves and no longer offers these items for sale. In December 2007, Lululemon made a similar move. In May 2008, REI removed Nalgene-branded polycarbonate water bottles and replaced them with BP-A free Nalgene bottles.

On April 18, 2008, Health Canada announced that Bisphenol A is "'toxic' to human health".
Canada is the first nation to make this designation.
On the same date Nalgene announced it would phase out production of its Outdoor line of polycarbonate containers containing the chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA).
Nalgene’s current product mix, includes the recently launched Everyday line and the original polycarbonate bottles made from materials that do not contain BPA.

Tags: Health, Nalgene Water Bottles, Bisphenol-A, BPA, Living Green