I even remember one very cold, long backpacking trip where I filled a Nalgene with hot water, and slept holding it in an attempt to stay warm.
Then they came out with the lovely skinny necked bottles. I used those all through grad school and in my first years of teaching. I used them until a few years ago when I first heard about Bisphenol-A in polycarbonate (#7) plastics. When I searched for a new water bottle, I was surprised to learn that our local sports store still only carried the colorful new (although toxic) bottles. And I was seeing toddlers using the smaller, equally snazzy ones everywhere.
I thought at least the BPA would only leech out into water at high temperatures. Then I read this post by Enviroblog, citing a study that showed BPA (an endocrine system disrupting chemical, linked to cancer and brain development problems) leeching into water at room temperature.
I felt betrayed. All those years. I guess I am mostly a lost cause, growing up in the 80s with all our Velveeta and Steak-ums (sorry, mom), I am probably full of preservatives and chemicals. But at least we can limit our kids' exposure to BPA, and hopefully it will be banned for use in plastics that come into contact with humans soon. See the posts below this one for resources that list and review products without BPA and ways to take action to stop companies from putting BPA in products in the first place.
Despite mounting research to the contrary, Nalgene insists their products are safe. They even cite the American Plastics Council as a reliable source (no conflict of interest, there--) for research information.
For more information see the other BPA articles listed under Labels.
Here is an article about BPA in canned goods and water bottles from the Green Guide.
And an article from CNN about BPA and Nalgene.
Posted on February 24, 2008
Katy can be found at Non-Toxic Kids sharing helpful information about how to raise kids as naturally as possible. She is a teacher, freelance writer, and mama from the mountains of Vermont.
