Nalgene to phase out hard plastic bottles

[Bad JuJu]

I have a few of these as well, but what are the safe replacements besides the stainless steel?

That's my question--what do we use instead? I can't see myself drinking water out of a steel bottle two hours into a ride on a hot Saturday in July. And as far as I know, as someone else noted, the standard squeezable plastic bike bottles are even worse for us--you can even taste the plastic when you use those. Glass doesn't seem practical. My poor head!

[KnottedYet]

The Soma crystal bottles are BpA free, and don't mess with the taste of your stuff. http://www.somafab.com/bottle.html I have some pretty old and well-loved ones, and they are still fabulous.

And everything else Nalgene makes other than the polycarbonate bottles is BpA free. http://www.nalgenechoice.com/

Be careful with stainless and aluminum. Some brands are lined with BpA plastics. So if you are concerned about BpA, steer clear.

I haven't thrown out my PC bottle yet. I'm thinkin' geocache, first aid kit, bike part container... or drinking from it.

[Melalvai]

Knotted, I think the Wikipedia article on BPA is reasonably accurate. You are right to be leary of media going head over heels one way, and industry propaganda the other way.

I will say that industry was over-represented on the National Toxicology Program report saying "negligible concern". As soon as the studies showing low-dose effects started coming out, the plastics industry launched a campaign to discredit that research. The tactics they used were fascinating, and ultimately doomed, it appears.

I do not believe that BPA poses a significant threat to adults. Fetal exposure to BPA causes reproductive problems in adulthood. That's why it's hard to detect the effects; they show up so long after the exposure. BPA bioaccumulates so the dose you get as a child from eating canned food will hang around until you are pregnant, and affect your child.

[Jolt]

I haven't thrown out my PC bottle yet. I'm thinkin' geocache, first aid kit, bike part container... or drinking from it.

I tried the first aid kit idea with one of mine, actually. The only problem with it is that it's hard to get things out easily--you end up having to dump it all out and some things sort of get stuck (4x4 gauze pads etc.).

[boy in a kilt]

Nalgene bottles seem like they'd be pretty dandy for cleaning chains in. Add solvent and chain, shake like hell, empty.

Since I don't have access to the actual journals, all I could read was abstracts and all I could glean from them is the jury is still out.

Kevin (SG's brother) is 3/4 right about not heating stuff in plastic containers. I did a quick scan of the net and found government agencies in the UK, Singapore and the US saying that single-use plastic and polystyrene containers are not suitable for heating/reheating food.

It may be my cantankerous upbringing but I don't trust the media to give me an unbiased view of what is going on. The popular science magazines (Sci Am, New Scientist, Discover, etc.) do a good job because if they don't their readers will pillory them. The rest are just trying to sell advertising by hawking the horror of the day.

[OakLeaf]

I don't think that just because a plastic container won't physically melt all over your food (like polystyrene or polyethylene), it's necessarily safe in the microwave.

A few years ago DH brought home some polycarbonate Tupperware containers that were labeled as microwave-safe. Not knowing any better, I tried that once. It didn't melt, not one bit, but it released fumes that were so noxious I had to evacuate and ventilate the kitchen.

Just because polypro doesn't do either of those things, I'm not totally convinced that I can rely on its safety. Yes, I microwave it - with reservations, same as I still get my water in polycarbonate jugs. No, I don't trust either one of them.

[tulip]

I bought a couple of bottles of Pellegrino (glass bottles), and I happily drank the fancy bubbly water. Now I fill the bottles with regular tap water and use a wine bottle stopper and it works great. Glass is the way to go, and they only cost the price of a nice bottle of mineral water.

[7rider]

I bought a couple of bottles of Pellegrino (glass bottles), and I happily drank the fancy bubbly water. Now I fill the bottles with regular tap water and use a wine bottle stopper and it works great. Glass is the way to go, and they only cost the price of a nice bottle of mineral water.

They generally don't fit well, tho', in a bike's water bottle cage....

[KnottedYet]

They generally don't fit well, tho', in a bike's water bottle cage....

The Soma Crystal bike bottles do, and they are fab-o!
http://www.somafab.com/bottle.html

Knot-tirelessly-pimping-Soma's-polypro-bike-bottles

[tulip]

They generally don't fit well, tho', in a bike's water bottle cage....

No, I wasn't talking about a bike water bottle, just a bottle-o-water to carry around--at work, in the car, places like that.

For bike riding, I stick with my regular plastic bike waterbottles (not nalgene--but the sqeezable kind). I drink the water pretty quickly, and I empty/wash them after the ride, so there's not much time for the nasties to infiltrate. My car and work water bottles, however, stay full alot longer.

When I was 15, I rode my bike through France for a month. Evian and Volvic came only in glass bottles in those days, and they fit in our water bottle cages.

[Chile Pepper]

This is all so confusing. Two questions for those who know.

--My bike bottles are no. 4 LDPE. My quick research indicates that these do not contain BPA, and I could not find any reference to other toxic compounds that they might be leaching--yet several people in this thread have made references to the fact (myth?) that these are worse than the Nalgene. They do affect the taste of the water, but are they toxic?

--I have some nice polycarbonate cups that I originally bought to use by the pool, but which have become our regular drinking glasses. I have generally read that the harder polycarbonate leaches significantly less than the softer polycarbonates (blended plastics) and that hot liquids generate more leaching than cold. So I haven't been worried. I also haven't worried about the several years that I mixed my younger son's formula in Avent bottles (nothing I can do about it now). So, should I (a) panic and toss the cups because they're going to turn my boys into girlie men; (b) return them to pool-only usage, because all things are ok in moderation; or (c) continue to use them because I like them and the scare is mostly media hype?

Thanks for your advice, ladies!

[tulip]

Chile, it is confusing. I use glass whenever possible (definitely in the microwave and for non-cycling drinking). When I need to use plastic, like for biking, I use it, but only when I need to.

[7rider]

No, I wasn't talking about a bike water bottle, just a bottle-o-water to carry around--at work, in the car, places like that.

I know. I was just being a wise-guy.


I'm sitting here, sipping water out of my Nalgene On-the-Go bottle. I wonder if the plastic Brita filter is leaching nasty stuff into my water? Boy...wouldn't that be ironic??

I just don't know where to go with this...... To echo BJJ "My poor head!"

[Melalvai]

Chile, whatever makes you the most comfortable. If every time you use them now you have that in the back of your mind and are wondering what you are exposing yourself to, replace them.

I also don't worry about what I exposed my daughter to. That was before I joined a lab studying BPA and pthalates, and it was too late to do anything about it. My future grandkids, on the other hand...