You may have heard the recent news about how Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) pulled all Nalgene bottles from their shelves late last week. They stopped selling the polycarbonate plastic water bottles over “worries about the chemical bisphenol A, which has been linked to cancer and reproductive problems in animals.” This chemical may leach from the plastic into the drinking water and MEC didn’t want to run the risk.
Well, this isn’t exactly new news, despite what many reporters may lead you to believe. Poking around on the Internet, I found this post written way back in April 2005. I’m sure that with a little more investigation, older articles will also pop up, all of which point toward the potential hazardous effects of bisphenol A.
Speaking for myself, I used my Nalgene water bottle religiously for the entirety of my university career at UBC. As far as I can tell, I haven’t suffered from any (major) brain damage and I don’t appear to showing any symptoms of cancer. Nearly every university student that I know used Nalgene bottles at some point in their academic career, as do the countless outdoor enthusiasts in and around the Vancouver area.
While it may be true that bisphenol A leaches from the polycarbonate containers, it appears that the amount is so small that it has minimal effect on the human body. An investigation is currently underway, but it goes to show you that you should never take anything at face value. I’m not saying that the Nalgene bottles are necessarily safe, but it’s just because MEC decided to pull the products from its shelves that this issue has risen to the surface. I didn’t know about the bisphenol A risk until the story broke out last week.
Eric Yaverbaum
December 11, 2007 2:01 pm
First let me say in the spirit of FULL DISCLOSURE, one of the companies I am a partner in sells water bottles. My pr agency (www.erichopr.com) has partnered with another agency (Digobrands.com) and have formed Tappening (tappening.com). While we have no inventory because we sold out in our first week, we have continued to be VERY active making sure people knew the facts about bottled water. We’ve repeatedly said in every press interview we do, that we don’t care whether you buy our bottle or Nalgene’s or any other competitor…just know the facts about the 28 billion bottles of bottled water we buy every year and the consequences that has on our environment. And people are listening. Almost 700,000 in a month at our website. And just as the mainstream media and many. many environmental groups are starting to be heard, MEC pulls their inventory over a story that is a decade old and has yet to reach a real conclusion. Yikes. What a coincidence? It’s not a new story, yet somehow it’s getting it’s 15 minutes of fame. Or more? Although I refuse to fan the fire, you have to wonder?
So here’s my message…stop drinking from any bottle that makes you nervous…but don’t pick bottled water before you know the facts or the bottled water companies who “coincidentally” will benefit from this old news suddenly being new news win. I sell polycarbonate bottles. I knew of these issues before ever starting. We closely examined the science and we came to the conclusion that they are safe. If it ever turns out that there is conclusive science that they are not, we’ll move along. But please make sure you know the FACTS and don’t go back to drinking bottled tap water. That’s what is important here.
Justin
December 11, 2007 8:51 pm
Thanks for the link. One reason I had that article up so long ago is that I have a friend who is in a Ph.D. program in biology, and she attended a seminar on the topic. I imagine it took a while for the results of the study being presented to get published and make it into mainstream news reports.
Anyway, I’m still drinking about a gallon a day out of my Nalgene (my 2nd since 2000), and haven’t grown any extra body parts or gotten cancer. However, I also never wash it in the dishwasher; I just hand-wash it with soap and warm water about once a week.
Marsha
December 12, 2007 1:13 am
I share your concerns about the plastic use and need to drink tap water. We have a company called Swellz which sells the TapSack to carry our own safe water. The product is plastic free besides the cap. The Swellz TapSack has a medical grade latex interior, leather exterior which becomes even better with age. You simply keep it clean with a soap and water rinse.
Not only does the product help to decrease plastic waste, eliminate the concern for cancer/bisphenol exposure, but it is a less bulky hydration product. The Swellz collapses as the water is consumed.
Check it out at http://www.swellz.com.
Thanks.