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Plastic Bottles
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Q: Why have a section in our Newsroom on Plastic Bottles?
A: Because the negative impact on our society and environment caused by single use plastic bottles parallels the problems and issues associated with single use plastic bags.
LA Times, 3.7.07
A firm with industry connections is removed from overseeing a federal evaluation on the safety of bisphenol A.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has begun a review of ties between a federal health center that evaluates the risks of chemicals to reproductive health and a consulting firm funded by companies that produce chemicals linked to reproductive disorders.
The investigation follows a Times report on Sunday that Sciences International, an Alexandria, Va., firm funded by more than 50 industrial companies, helps manage the federal Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction.
Among the firms with financial ties to Sciences International are two that produce bisphenol A, a chemical in polycarbonate plastic bottles that has been linked in animal testing to prostate and breast cancer and reduced fertility...
Chemical agency ties under review
Environmental Working Group, 3.5.07
We included this article because the issues associated with BPA leaching from canned goods is closely associated to BPA leaching from polycarbonate bottles.
Independent laboratory tests found a toxic food-can lining ingredient associated with birth defects of the male and female reproductive systems in over half of 97 cans of name-brand fruit, vegetables, soda, and other commonly eaten canned goods. The study was spearheaded by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and targeted the chemical bisphenol A (BPA), a plastic and resin ingredient used to line metal food and drink cans. There are no government safety standards limiting the amount of BPA in canned food...
A Survey of Bisphenol A in U.S. Canned Foods
environmentcalifornia.org, 3.1.07
A hormone-disrupting toxic chemical known to be a developmental, neural, and reproductive toxicant—called bisphenol A—leaches from popular clear, plastic baby bottles, according to a new report released today by Environment California Research and Policy Center. In Toxic Baby Bottles: Scientific Study Finds Leaching Chemicals in Clear Plastic Baby Bottles, Environment California Research and Policy Center worked with an independent laboratory to determine whether toxic chemicals leach from the most popular baby bottles on the market.
“A child’s first few years are an exciting time for parents who hope that their child starts his or her life happy and healthy,” said Rachel Gibson, Environmental Health Advocate and Staff Attorney for Environment California, who is the report’s author. “Unfortunately, parents do not have the information they need to adequately protect their children from toxic chemicals. California should require manufacturers to remove toxic chemicals from children’s products and, in the meantime, give parents the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions—right away.”
Environment California Research and Policy Center worked with an independent laboratory to analyze five of the most popular brands of baby bottles on the market to determine whether bisphenol A—a chemical linked to developmental, neural, and reproductive problems—leached from the bottles into liquids contained inside them...
Toxic Chemical Leaches from Popular Baby Bottles
The Christian Science Monitor, 10.4.04
There's a plastic explosion going on in the United States. In 1990, Americans bought 1.1 billion pounds of plastic in the form of bottles, according to the Container Recycling Institute. In 2002, they bought more than three times that - 4 billion pounds.
America's population has increased only slightly since 1990. And the amount of plastic used in the average beverage container has actually decreased. Why are today's consumers using so much more plastic?
"That increase is not coming from shampoo bottles," says Jenny Gitlitz, a spokeswoman for the Container Recycling Institute. "It's coming primarily from water bottles."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1027/p16s01-sten.html
CNN.com, 2.27.07
Independent experts convened by the National Institutes of Health will meet next week to review whether exposure to a chemical commonly found in plastic products like food containers and baby bottles causes health problems.
Separately, an environmental group said new laboratory tests at the University of Missouri found that the chemical, bisphenol A, leached into liquids at potentially dangerous levels from baby bottles sold by five leading brands.
Bisphenol A, also called BPA, is used in making polycarbonate plastic food and drink packaging.
There has been controversy over its safety. Industry views it as harmless. Environmentalists link it to developmental, neural and reproductive harm when ingested...
Study: Popular baby bottles may be dangerous
MARLA CONE /s Los Angeles Times, 4.13.05
Evidence is mounting that a chemical in plastic that is one of the world's most widely used industrial compounds may be risky in the small amounts that seep from bottles and food packaging, according to a report to be published this week in a scientific journal.
The authors of the report, who reviewed more than 100 studies, urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to re-evaluate the risks of bisphenol A and consider restricting its use.
Bisphenol A, or BPA, has been detected in nearly all humans tested in the U.S. It is a key building block in the manufacture of hard, clear polycarbonate plastics, including baby bottles, water bottles and other food and beverage containers. The chemical can leach from the plastic, especially when the containers are heated, cleaned with harsh detergents or exposed to acidic foods or drinks.
The chemical is the focus of a contentious debate involving industrial compounds that can mimic sex hormones. Toxicologists say that exposure to man-made hormones skews the developing reproductive systems and brains of newborn animals and could be having the same effects on human fetuses and young children.
Since the late 1990s, some experiments have found no effects at the doses of BPA that people are exposed to, and others have suggested that the chemical mimics estrogen, blocks testosterone and harms lab animals at low doses. Plastics industry representatives say the trace amounts that migrate from some products pose no danger and are far below safety thresholds set by the EPA and other agencies.
In the new report, to be published online in Environmental Health Perspectives on Thursday, scientists Frederick vom Saal and Claude Hughes say that as of December, 115 studies have been published examining low doses of the chemical, and 94 of them found harmful effects.
In an interview Tuesday, Vom Saal, a reproductive biologist at University of Missouri in Columbia, said there is now an "overwhelming weight of evidence" that the plastics compound is harmful.
"This is a snowball running down a hill, where the evidence is accumulating at a faster and faster rate," Vom Saal said...
http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Monomers/BPA-Risk-Bottles13apr05
oneworld.net, 2.4.06
...Tap water comes to us through an energy-efficient infrastructure whereas bottled water must be transported long distances--and nearly one-fourth of it across national borders--by boat, train, airplane, and truck. This ''involves burning massive quantities of fossil fuels,'' Arnold said.
By way of example, in 2004 alone, a Helsinki company shipped 1.4 million bottles of Finnish tap water 4,300 kilometers (2,700 miles) to Saudi Arabia. And although 94 percent of the bottled water sold in the United States is produced domestically, some Americans import water shipped some 9,000 kilometers from Fiji and other faraway places to satisfy demand for what Arnold termed ''chic and exotic bottled water.''
More fossil fuels are used in packaging the water. Most water bottles are made with polyethylene terephthalate, a plastic derived from crude oil. ''Making bottles to meet Americans' demand for bottled water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year,'' Arnold said.
Worldwide, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year.
Once it has been emptied, the bottle must be dumped. According to the Container Recycling Institute, 86 percent of plastic water bottles used in the United States become garbage or litter. Incinerating used bottles produces toxic byproducts such as chlorine gas and ash containing heavy metals tied to a host of human and animal health problems. Buried water bottles can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.
Of the bottles deposited for recycling in 2004, the United States exported roughly 40 percent to destinations as far away as China--meaning that even more fossil fuels were burned in the process...
http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/126829/1/1935
Sierra Magazine, 12.1.03
Choose your plastic water bottles carefully -- Clear, lightweight, and sturdy polycarbonate plastic bottles are standard equipment for millions of hikers and babies. (They are usually labeled #7 on the bottom; Nalgene is the best-known producer.) Since polycarbonate bottles don’t impart a taste to fluids, many users assume they are safer than bottles made out of other kinds of plastic. But now an accidental discovery has cast doubt on their safety.
"We just stumbled into this," says Hunt, "but we have been stunned by what we have seen."
Most at risk, says Colborn, are people with developing endocrine systems: pregnant women and newborns, followed by young children, and women who might get pregnant.
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200311/lol5.asp
Mothering.com, 5.31.06
Bottled water is here to stay, a booming industry that grosses more than $7 billion dollars a year in the US alone. Water is necesary, and maintaining hydration is essential to good health (note the increased demand the body calls for when pregnant, breastfeeding and exercising ). But the bottle you drink from may be dangerous to your health.
Polycarbonate water bottles (labeled #7) contain bisphenol A (BPA), which leaches from the plastic even at room temperature and has been linked to chromosome damage and hormone disruption. These are the types of plastic Nalgene water bottles found in sports stores. Commonly, the bottled water you purchase is in #1 PET or PETE bottles (polyethylene terephthalate) , which may leach DEHA, a known carcinogen, if used more than once. Additionally, when refilled, either type of plastic bottles are likely to contain potentially harmful bacteria that grow on saliva, food particles, and fecal material from unwashed hands. Many people have reported getting diarrhea from their reused water bottles. Washing bottles with hot water and detergent or a rinse with bleach will sanitize them, but also leaches harmful chemicals out of the plastic...
http://www.mothering.com/sections/news_bulletins/may2004.html
Lifetimefitness.com, 5.31.06
Attempt to tally up your daily encounters with plastics, and you'll probably lose count before lunch. From the plastic bottles and tubes that hold your toiletries to the plastic surfaces that pervade your car, office and home, odds are you've touched a dozen different kinds of plastic well before you've even checked the first item of your to-do list - probably using a plastic pen.
Plastics are especially pernicious wherever food and drink are found. There's a good chance that the milk for your coffee came from a plastic jug, and that any bread or cereal you ate was stored in a plastic bag. Did you nuke your lunch in a plastic container? Guzzle water from a plastic bottle during your workout?
There's a good reason for all this plastic - it helps keep foods fresh, handy and portable. It's also durable and lightweight. And manufacturers love that it can be molded into an incredible variety of shapes, weights and textures. But plastics are made of petroleum-based chemicals that, in most states, are definitely not meant for human consumption. Which makes some experts nervous about the plastics that touch your food.
For the most part, the chemicals in finished plastic are stabilized, meaning they stay bonded together and can't migrate into the food they contain. But recent research indicates that under certain circumstances, trace quantities of these chemical cans leach into food or liquid. The concern is that when exposed to heat or reused beyond their intended life span, plastic compounds can break down, mix with your food or drink, and be ingested. Once inside your body, critics say, such compounds increase your risk for cancer and other problems....
http://www.lifetimefitness.com/magazine/index.cfm?strWebAction=ar
Billingsgazette.com, 5.31.06
The ubiquitous polycarbonate water bottle is the canteen of the 21st century. But these colorful plastic vessels, made by companies like Nalgene and GSI Outdoors, have been embroiled in a controversy for the past two years, ever since a researcher at Case Western Reserve University said they may pose health risks.
Dr. Patricia Hunt, a geneticist working with laboratory mice, noticed a spike in chromosomal abnormalities after a lab worker cleaned a set of polycarbonate mouse cages with a harsh detergent, leaching a chemical called bisphenol-A (BPA) into the animals' environment. Hunt's findings, which were published in the journal Current Biology, were used by Sierra magazine and other media to perpetuate - somewhat haphazardly - a scare that polycarbonate or Lexan water bottles potentially could leach similar nasty chemicals...
http://billingsgazette.com/newdex.php?display=rednews/2005/03/31/
Labour Environmental Alliance Society, 5.31.06
For years, hikers, bikers, campers, and other outdoor recreationalists have favored wide-mouthed water bottles made from Lexan® polycarbonate plastic, like those sold under the brand name Nalgene®. Lexan‚s advantages have been as clear as the water that flows from containers made from it. It‚s tough, lightweight, absorbs no flavors, and imparts no unpleasant tastes to liquids stored inside. According to new research, it may, however, be imparting unhealthy doses of a chemical called bisphenol-A.
According to several recent studies, polycarbonate plastic readily leaches a chemical called bisphenol-A (BPA) into foods and liquids that are stored in containers made from it. BPA has been identified as an endocrine disrupting chemical, or a chemical that easily mimics hormones when absorbed by the human body. In the case of BPA, the hormone being mimicked is estrogen. Exposure to this compound at the wrong time can cause a cell division problem called aneuploidy in which chromosomes do not evenly split as a cell divides, leaving the two resulting cells with more or fewer chromosomes than normal. This uneven distribution of genetic material can in turn lead to cancer, miscarriage, and birth defects that include Down‚s Syndrome...
http://leas.ca/On-the-Trail-of-Water-Bottle-Toxins.htm
The Decatur Daily, 1.30.05
…The No. 1 and No. 2 narrow-necked plastic bottles can be recycled into carpet, clothing, stuffing for sleeping bags, plastic bags, Tyvek protective coveralls, plastic wood, nonfood containers such as laundry detergent bottles, lawn bags, toys, recycling bins, car battery cases and parts used in automobiles.
Although plastics account for only 8 percent of the waste stream by weight, they occupy about 20 percent of volume in a landfill…
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/050130/recycle.shtm
ÖKO-TEST (Independent German Consumer Test), 6.0.97
An independent test of the SIGG bottles we offer. Also, visit our help section for SIGG FAQs. Click here to shop for SIGG.
In Summary:
Only the two bottles made by the manufacturer Sigg, market leader in both Switzerland and Germany, showed no traces of aluminum... the manufacturer Sigg shows that it is possible to avoid residue from synthetic coating. Rolf Kothrade, responsible for aluminum bottles at Sigg, explains that his company changed the entire production process two years ago and now uses a water-based interior coating
We recommend aluminum bottles from an ecological point of view because they are durable: "If the coating is not damaged, they have an unlimited useful life,"
For complete article read on...
Aluminum drinking bottles are a popular alternative to disposable packaging. But substances which give cause for concern in terms of health can actually dissolve out of some bottles. But that does not have to be the case, as one manufacturer shows.
In 1845, the discoverer, John Franklin, left London with three excellently equipped ships looking for a new sea route, the legendary North-west Passage. Neither he nor any of his 128 men returned.
His misfortune occupied man's imagination for more than a century. The failure of the expedition remained a mystery until 1985 when science solved it: the tins Franklin had taken with him had carelessly been soldered with lead. The metal contaminated the meat and ruined the men's health after only a few months. This problem has now been solved - it is a long time since lead was used in tins - but modern tins are not without their problems. When ÖKÖ-TEST tested beer cans last year, they revealed traces of BADGE. The substance comes from the synthetic material used to coat the inside of cans and is thought to cause cancer. A year ago, tins of fish with considerable traces of BADGE were withdrawn for this very reason in Switzerland.
Aluminum drinking bottles also usually have a synthetic coating on the inside. But there are manufacturers who only anodise the aluminum, i.e. cover it with a synthetic oxide film. Hikers, bikers, mountain climbers and pupils use the light, unbreakable bottles as an alternative to disposable packaging. "They are much better than the synthetic bottles we used to have that were never really leak-proof and tasted of plastic," says Andreas Keller of the leisure equipment company McTrek in Frankfurt, Germany.
We wanted to know whether the aluminum from the bottles contaminated the drink. We also tested whether BADGE or any other synthetic residue dissolved out of the containers with synthetic coatings. Our laboratories also tested whether the coatings, inscriptions or tops of the bottles contained PVC which is harmful to the environment or were manufactured from material containing formaldehyde resin.
The result: BADGE could not be found in any of the ten bottles tested. Six of the eight bottles with synthetic coatings, however, were shown to have traces of the substance, Bisphenol A, which irritates the skin and which, like BADGE, originates from synthetic material. Drinks in the bottles with no coating showed a concentration of aluminum way above the limit of the drinking water decree. Only the two bottles made by the manufacturer Sigg, market leader in both Switzerland and Germany, showed no traces of aluminum. But a PVC imprint on the Sigg bottle prevented them from receiving a perfect rating. [New water based lining eliminates this]
We devalued two bottles that released aluminum when our laboratory filled them with a mixture of apple juice and fizzy mineral water. The limit of the EU and the drinking water decree of 0.2 milligram per litre was exceeded considerably both by the small and the large Markill bottle made by VauDe: there was 1.13 milligram per litre in the first bottle, 0.91 milligram in the second. "That could well be due to an error during anodisation of this lot," explains Rainer Fischer who is responsible for the bottles at VauDe. "Correctly anodised bottles are resistant to acids." A subsequent test with two other bottles, however, resulted in even higher values than were obtained in the first test: our laboratory traced 3.2 and 1.6 milligrams of aluminum per litre of the apple juice/mineral water mixture. "We will now analyse and improve the production process so that we adhere to the drinking water limit," promised Fischer's colleague, Stefan Engers.
The fact that aluminum is thought to cause Alzheimer's disease has not been substantiated in recent years. Dr. Lutz Frölich, secretary of the Alzheimer Foundation in Frankfurt says, "It is probably insignificant as a risk factor," claiming that the increased level of aluminum found in the brains of Alzheimer patients could possibly be the result of incorrect measurements. Professor Hermann Dieter from the Umweltbundesamt (the Federal Environment Agency) shares that opinion: "A link between aluminum and Alzheimer's disease has not been proved, in fact there is more evidence against the theory."
Scientists are of varied opinions on other effects of aluminum on the health. New tests are showing that a high aluminum content in food can cause arteriosclerosis and is detrimental for the phosphate metabolism, and experiments on animals have shown aluminum to be a neurotoxin.
Nevertheless Dr. Irene Lukassowitz from the Bundesinstitut für Verbraucherschutz und Veterinärmedizin (BgVV) (The Federal Institute for Consumer Protection and Veterinary Medicine) in Berlin explains that, "The values measured in the apple juice/mineral water mixture can be ignored from a health point of view. The limit of the drinking water decree is exceeded but the World Health Organisation (WHO) limit is one milligram of aluminum intake per kilogram of body weight a day." A biker weighing 70 kg would have to drink between 20 and 77 litres from his non-coated bottle to reach this value." Dr. Lutz Frölich from the Alzheimer Foundation does not share her opinion: "Aluminum is a potential danger to your health; unnecessary amounts should be avoided." And aluminum residue can actually be avoided in drinking bottles: according to the test results, a synthetic coating prevents the metal dissolving into the drink. But synthetic material itself is problematic. The Lefo Institute in Ahrensburg found residue of Bisphenol A (a substance used in the production of synthetic material) in most bottles.
Dr. Ulrich Nehring, whose institute specialises in food packaging, is "not surprised" that our tests show residues of substances from the coating. In the manufacture of synthetic material, as in all chemical reactions, not all original substances react entirely with one another. "There is always some unused residue," explains the chemist Udo Kasel from the Lefo Institute.
Bisphenol A irritates the skin. Scientists, however, believe that the substance is not as dangerous as BADGE. Experiments on animals have not shown that it causes cancer or has any gene-modifying effect. The Bisphenol A content in the aluminum bottles also decreases each time the bottle is used as the superfluous synthetic material from the coating is eventually washed out. This is why many manufacturers recommend that customers wash out the bottles thoroughly before use. Our tester, Udo Kasel, feels this tip is sensible, but still the test results are not acceptable because the law on food and consumer goods states that substances should only be allowed to dissolve into food when this cannot be avoided technically. But the manufacturer Sigg shows that it is possible to avoid residue from synthetic coating. Rolf Kothrade, responsible for aluminum bottles at Sigg, explains that his company changed the entire production process two years ago and now uses a water-based interior coating.
Other companies are also busy working on alternatives: "We have known that substances like BADGE and Bisphenol A can dissolve out of synthetic coatings since February 1996," explains, for example, Volker Fehn, sales manager at Schmalbach-Lubeca, the tin manufacturer. "We have been testing alternative coating systems at our plant in Cuxhaven, where we manufacture tins for the food industry, since April 1996," says Fehn.
Improvements could also be made to some of the tops: some are made of polyoxymethylene (POM) which results in very accurate, tight-fitting parts. "This synthetic material is, however, manufactured with the help of formaldehyde," explains our scientific adviser, Dr. Dieter Wundram. "If formaldehyde, which is responsible for various allergies and is suspected of causing cancer, comes into direct contact with liquids, it can dissolve - and the bottle tops come into direct contact with the drinks."
Karin Elbl-Weiser, spokesperson for BASF in Ludwigshafen, confirms, "In our tests, POM was no longer resistant with 10% lemon acid between 60 and 80 degrees." But the bottles do not have to withstand such pressure in normal daily use. Pure lemon juice is only 7% acid, which means that you could even fill containers with POM tops with hot tea with lemon without there being any danger.
But Sigg looked for an alternative without formaldehyde. The new material is scheduled to be used in series in five months' time. As Sigg tops can be bought individually, they can already be exchanged for the valve top which is manufactured without POM.
The laboratories also examined the outside of the bottles. Some have imprints with PVC; one has a PVC sticker on it. The amounts of the ecologically harmful material are low, "but even small amounts should consistently be avoided," says Dr. Dieter Wundram. With aluminum drinking bottles, there is another reason for not using PVC: "Burning PVC together with aluminum releases a lot of dioxins."
We recommend aluminum bottles from an ecological point of view because they are durable: "If the coating is not damaged, they have an unlimited useful life," says Rolf Kothrade from Sigg. Olaf Bandt, responsible for the subject of refuse at the German Bund für Umwelt- und Naturschutz (Association for the Protection of Nature and the Environment), is also in favour of aluminum drinking bottles: "If one aluminum product replaces a lot of disposable packaging, it is really sensible from an environmental point of view."
But just how long disposable tins can spoil the landscape could be seen as early as John Franklin's expedition: the empty tins are still lying on the island in the very north of Canada where, three years after he set out, his journey so very tragically ended.
Author: Richard Breum
For test results by fax: 0190-252150100
© 2001 by ÖKÖ-TEST GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany.
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