There has been some recent discussion about the safety of water bottles made by Nalgene that contain polycarbonate. Now the National Geographic Adventure Blog has posted a Special Report on the topic to let us all know how to tell of our water bottles are safe, and what to look for in the future when buying new ones.
Bottles made with polycarbonate have been linked to breast and prostate cancer, as well as brain disease and disruption of the endocrine system. The man made chemical of bisphenol A, also known as BPA, is contained in polycarbonate and seems to be the major cause of the health concerns.
Nalgene as announced that they will stop making bottles that contain the substance, and will begin using a new, safer substance known as Tritan in their future bottles. We are all encouraged to replace our current bottles with ones made with Tritan or stainless steel.
The post over at NG’s Adventure blog contains more information on the topic, including how to tell if your current bottle is safe or not, and what to replace it with. You should pitch out any older bottles and head to REI or one of your local outdoor stores to pick up new, safer bottles in the very near future.
The link between the use of BPA and the health concerns listed above is pretty clear cut. Besides, you know you’ve been wanting to buy a some new gear anyway. 😉
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Any lawsuits?
None that I’ve heard of yet. Want to start one? 😉
Ha! I’d be in on that.
I’ve been drinking from Nalgenes for a decade…
Same here Wade. I had to go through my collection to check them out yesterday and wouldn’t you know it, it’s time for some new bottles. That means a trip to REI though, which is never a bad thing. Unless you’re my wallet.
Is there any recommendation on what to do with these things? I pulled out ten of these from our gear stash and all are bad. I got the hammer out and put holes in them so they could not be used again and started to put them in the recycle bin but is this the thing to do? I would hate to recycle breast and prostate cancer.
That’s a good question. I’m not sure what to do with the either. I have a couple and I was just going to pitch them then thought twice about it as well. Maybe REI will have a proper recycle bin for them or something. I’ll have to check it out this weekend.
The first lawsuit filed. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080424/hl_nm/nalgene_lawsuit_dc
I figured it was only a matter of time before we saw a lawsuit. Not surprised at all.
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