That's Fit

Awesome, informative, well-written post!

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I read that aluminum has been linked to Alzheimers. Has anyone else heard that?

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As you mentioned, BPA has been in news recently because it leaches estrogenic activity (EA) into the water we drink. While estrogens (the female sex hormones) occur naturally in the body, many scientific studies have shown that significant health problems can occur when chemicals are ingested that mimic or block the actions of these female sex hormones; the fetus, newborn, or young child is especially vulnerable. These health-related problems include early puberty in females, reduced sperm counts in males, altered functions of reproductive organs, obesity, altered behaviors, and increased rates of some breast, ovarian, testicular, and prostate cancers.
However, BPA and phthalates are just two of several thousand chemicals that exhibit EA. These chemicals having EA leach from almost all plastics sold today, including polyethylene, polypropylene, PET, etc. That is, plastics advertised as BPA-free or phthalate-free are not EA-free; almost all these plastics still leach chemicals having EA – and often have more total EA than plastics that release BPA or phthalates. In fact, our data show that all the plastics listed in this article release chemicals having EA.
Various plastics manufacturers are now attempting to solve this problem by removing chemicals having EA (BPA, phthalates) one at a time. For example, the consumer can now easily find BPA-free products on the market. But are these products really the solution?? This is a marketing-driven solution, not a health-driven solution. The appropriate health-driven solution is to manufacture safer plastics that are EA-free. This is not a pie-in-the-sky solution, as the technology already exists to produce EA-free plastics that also have the same advantageous physical properties as the plastic products that are on the market today. In fact, some of these advanced-technology EA-free plastics are already in the marketplace.
While BPA-free is the new health term of the month, consumers should be aware that their BPA-free plastic bottles often have the same, if not more, harmful hormonal activity than before.

George D. Bittner, PhD
Professor of Biology,
The University of Texas at Austin
Founder: CertiChem, PlastiPure

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Readers,

Dr. Bittner had difficulty replying to my last question (Comment #5) via the comment tool, so he replied to me directly with an answer to my question re: stainless steel vs. EA-free plastics. Here it is:

"My reply would be that stainless steel water bottles would NOT release chemicals having EA unless they have a plastic liner (some do, as do cans). Stainless steel also has the "downside" of being more expensive than plastic and cannot be microwaved. If the ss container also has a plastic lid, or spout, or whatever-- those parts are also leaching chemicals with EA into the contents of the container."

Good to know, thanks Dr. Bittner. Personally, I'm seriously looking at stainless steel now, with a focus on EA-free solutions.

Bev

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I've heard the same about aluminum - Sigg coats the inside of their bottles with an epoxy, the contents of which are 'secret' - protected by patent laws. The fact that many epoxies are made with BPA makes it a little suspect.

So I went with bpa free bottles that contain tritan plastic, which was made just for water bottles. I bought a camelbak better bottle to replace my nalgene and also ordered 2 Titan water bottles. They are a little more pricey but offer a built in clip, one handed operation, and a spill proof mouthpiece. I haven't received them yet (they are on backorder) but they are available on
www.titanwaterbottle.com

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