A CONVERSATION ABOUT SIGG BOTTLES: ARE THEY SAFE?
I was recently a part of a group conversation that started when a retailer asked the group what water bottles manufacturer offers custom advertising on their bottles. One person offered Sigg as a possible company to go with. That is when the conversation turned to whether or not Sigg produces a safe water bottle. Many of you have been writing in looking for more information on Sigg. Since Sigg is not doing their best to answer these questions, it is up to us to find the best information available and go from there. I feel I have done just that and have come to a comfortable conclusion for myself, my family and my business. In order to more efficiently share my findings with you I have copied below, my responses to some of the comments and questions from the conversation.
********************************************
group comment: "You can get your logo on Sigg bottles"
my response: "As much as I loved Sigg bottles when I first saw them, they are lined with water-based epoxy which is why they do not recommend filling the bottle with anything warm or acidic. That surprised me. For some reason I thought being made in Europe meant it would be safer. Not the case. I would recommend Klean Kanteen. They personalize bottles too.
**********************************************
The President of Sigg, Steve Wasic's response to my comment: "SIGGs are tested thoroughly both in the USA and in Europe and the results are very consistent: SIGG bottles are 100% safe and show 0% leaching, even under unusually harsh conditions. In a recent laboratory test, SIGGs withstood 3 days in an oven set to 194 degrees Fahrenheit with no trace of leaching or damage to the bottle or liner.
The comments stated by Ms Maurer are incorrect. The SIGG liner is baked on at extremely high temperatures and becomes completely inert. SIGGs can hold beverages at high temperatures (even boiling – but you would not want to handle the bottle without a mitt – it gets hot!) and can hold all types of consumable beverages (even highly acidic beverages like apple or orange juice) without any damage to the bottle or the liner.
Stainless steel bottles from China are certainly an option, but there’s nothing like the 100 years of Swiss quality and design behind every SIGG.
Sincerely,
Steve Wasik President, SIGG USA
my letter in response to Mr Wasik:
Mr Wasic,
Regarding your Sigg Bottles:
They are lined with epoxy correct? One main (essential) ingredient in the creation of most epoxy resins is Bisphenol-A, the building block of polycarbonate. This epoxy was co-invented by a Swiss scientist named Dr. Pierre Castan,(wiki) not that that matters. I have written to you in the past asking for the ingredients in your epoxy resin. I did so because I loved how the bottles looked, already owned a few (trusted they were safe) and wanted to carry them in my store. You never responded, so I did my own research. Since then, your bottles have become vases in my home, still holding liquid, still looking pretty, but feeding cut flowers rather then my child or myself. Here's why:
The amount of Bisphonal A required to cause harm and eventually, cancer in our bodies, specifically in our endocrine systems (hormone function) is too small for human tools to detect (parts per billion). You would have to conduct a study on the effects the liquids contained in your bottles have on humans who are drinking from the bottle over a course of time. Or, you could choose mice or rats for your subjects. You have not done this and therefore I dismiss your statement that the lining of your bottles is safe. You do not know if they are safe in the longterm- which should be a concern of yours.
Time and time again, this claim is made by companies stating they have tested their products for leaching of Bisphenol A and it is understandable they are trying not to have their company bottom out, but it is horrifically irresponsible. Dow Corning did the same thing 10 years ago when a team of scientists at Tufts University accidentally discovered the Dow Corning manufactured test tubes they were using were made of Bisphenol A and leaching into what ever they were containing. Somehow, Dow Corning kept that information from being heard for 10 YEARS. We are now only starting to hear about it and it blows me away when I think of all of the products they make with Bisphenol-A and how much damage exposure for 10 years can do to our bodies. And exposure isn't just from direct use of Bisphenol-A, it is very prevalent in our landfills and therefore our drinking water. We need to stop producing it, period.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/nature/interviews/vomsaal.html
If I have to choose between a toxin-free product made responsibly in China or a product made with BPA in Switzerland, I'm afraid it's going to be China, Mr Wasic. To my knowledge, European Bisphenol A is no less harmful then that in the US or China. Just because something is Swiss/European doesn't mean it is safe. Just because something is from China, doesn't make it harmful. Just because something has been a tradition for 100 years doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.
Since the market will demand whether Bisphenol A is used or not, it is up to retailers and consumers to stop buying goods containing this chemical. It is a petroleum based toxin and it is not sustainable. It is potentially causing cancer and it needs to be eliminated from existance.
As for your bottles Mr Wasic, I would love to hear that your epoxy is a special epoxy that does not contain a harmful toxin such as Bisphenol A or that you have conducted extensive peer-reviewed studies using relevant levels, subjects and tools because as I said before, your make a very attractive product.
I would love to hear this Mr Wasic but you would have to write me back this time.
Sincerely,
Amelia Royko Maurer
****************************************
question from group: "Are you saying even just water is a risk? "
my response:
My understanding is that polycarbonate can leach BPA with the slightest ph change. I personally would not drink anything out of an epoxy lined bottle, not even water. I found this on WIKI :
link to wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoxy#Health_risks
"The primary risk associated with epoxy use is sensitization to the hardener, which, over time, can induce an allergic reaction.
Both epichlorohydrin and bisphenol A are suspected endocrine disruptors.
According to some reports [5] Bisphenol A is linked to the following effects in humans:
And this is an email exchange I had Dr Fredrick Vom Saal (a scientist who broke the story about Bisphenol A 10 years ago) after reading his interview on PBS:
Dear Mr. Frederick vom Saal,
I am a concerned 32 year old mother of an 8 month old girl, trying to make responsible decisions for the good of my daughters health, as well as my own. My mother and grandmother have both died from breast cancer. What is your advice regarding xenoestrogens? Since I have already been exposed to so many, can I do anything to undo possible damage to my daughter? I have eaten predominantly organic whole foods and avoided pesticides to best of my ability for the last 12 years but I grew up on a golfcourse and in a home where food was heated up in plastic and labels were never read. What can I do besides read labels and store food in glass? I am so very concerned for my daughter and want more then anything to grow old beside her . What would you do in my shoes?
Thank you,
Amelia Royko Maurer
-- Dear Mrs. Maurer: Most people do not know that with rare exceptions genetics is much less important than environmental exposures in breast cancer. Try to avoid heating any plastic or using plastic products. Avoid any pesticides and cosmetics as well as any other type of manmade chemicals, since few have been tested for safety - the rule being safe until proven guilty, which is not easy to do.
It sounds as if you are doing everything that you can do to be healthy.
Good luck,
Fred vom Saal
Frederick S. vom Saal
105 Lefevre Hall
Division of Biological Sciences
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
*******************************************
question from group: "I posted some of this on Mothering.com and had someone come back and say the liners were enamel. not epoxy. do you know?"
my response:
When I bought my first Sigg bottle, I called the company up and asked what the liner was all about. They said something like they were working on a patent and could not yet reveal what it was. So I waited and wrote again. Then I would just periodically check in at their website to see if they had given the answer yet. Finally one day it said the liner was a "water based epoxy resin". If you look today, they have removed the word epoxy, but the funny thing is, none of their other retailers have, which looks a little obvious, especially since their descriptions of it all match accept for the missing word "epoxy". They mention that it is not plastic- which is true, nonetheless, BPA is used to make most epoxy resins. They also rave about FDA approval. Polycarbonate among other not-so-wonderful things have been approved by the FDA. It seems a little weird to be using the FDA as the single responsible filter for safety these days. Below I've attached other retailer descriptions along with a definition of water based epoxy resin.
http://www.amazon.com/Sigg-Lifestyle-Water-Bottle-1-0-Liters/dp/B000RI4ES4
"They also feature Sigg's proprietary baked-on inner liner, which is made from a non-toxic, water-based epoxy resin that exceeds FDA requirements for leaching (0.0 percent) and is independently tested to be taste- and scent-neutral. Every Sigg bottle is 100 percent recyclable at the end of its life, and is backed by a lifetime warranty."
http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/shopping-bags-50
"This special, baked-on inner liner is a water-based epoxy resin exceeding FDA requirements and independently tested (Nehring, Germany) to prove 0% leaching."
http://www.alpineer.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=809990!sig01
"baked-on, water-based epoxy resin; exceeds FDA requirements; flexible and crack resistant; resists fruit acids and isotonic drinks"
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4421906.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoxy
Again, I hope they prove me wrong, but to do that they would have to actually reveal what they use AND call me back.
Amelia
***********************************************
comment from Ben Alexander of Sound Native Plants
Ben Alexander writes
At the risk of belaboring this issue, several issues were left hanging. From my perspective:
1. Is BPA a health risk or not? After looking at all the information out there, I believe the evidence is overwhelming that BPA can cause serious health problems. The fact that EPA does not support Dr. Saal's research does not convince me. According to the NRDC, which employs some of the finest environmental scientists in the country:
"Chemical manufacturers have funded many studies that have almost uniformly concluded that endocrine disruption does not occur or, if it does, is not harmful. This is hardly surprising because a great deal of money is at stake. (To offer just one example: In 2002 U.S. companies produced 2.8 million tons of bisphenol A [BPA], a synthetic estrogen used to make baby bottles, plastic water bottles, dental sealants, and resin liners for metal food cans. At 94 cents a pound, this translates to sales of more than $5.3 billion in that year alone.) By contrast, federally funded academic researchers, who have no financial stake in the outcome of their work, have found much compelling evidence that synthetic chemicals, including BPA, do cause endocrine disruption and that the damage can be serious."
And, regarding Dr Saal's research specifically:
"Chemical manufacturers have worked hard to counter this academic research, hiring chemists to study and discredit the results. Vom Saal and others have had to spend enormous amounts of time and money defending their work, resources better devoted to moving forward onto new ground. Researchers funded by industry, curiously, tend to find that every chemical is safe. In 2004, vom Saal tallied up results of all the studies he could find on BPA. He discovered that of 104 studies done by independent researchers, 94 found adverse effects and 10 found no effects. Of the 11 studies conducted by industry-supported researchers, zero identified adverse effects. Marian Stanley, a spokesperson for the American Chemical Council, which represents the interests of chemical manufacturers, says, "We are unaware of any big discrepancies between the experimental research supported by industry and by others. Animal studies -- that is, credible experimental research -- from all sectors show basically the same results across the board."
full text at:
http://www.nrdc.org/onearth/06win/chem3.asp
Federal agencies have been systematically ignoring their own scientists' warnings about the health risks of BPA exposure. As a result, congress has launched an investigation into this topic. In fact, last week the National Institutes of Health caved to congressional pressure and announced that they would launch an investigation into the Center for the Evaluation of Risk to Human Reproduction’s controversial report on BPA, which ignored their own scientists' recommendations in favor of industry-funded BPA research.
source: http://www.ewg.org/node/25864
2. Do Sigg bottles contain BPA in the liner? Probably, since it is almost certainly an epoxy liner, but what really matters is whether BPA leaches into the water. The only current research offered by Sigg on this topic was a study they paid for, conducted by Alliance Technologies, LLC of New Jersey, in 2007. This for-profit lab's mission is to support business and industry R&D. There has been no independent, peer-reviewed research on this topic. That alone makes the results questionable; however, the lab could still produce reliable results. Assuming we accept the study at face value, the limits of BPA detection for the lab's methodology, according to their report, is 2 ppb, which is equivalent to 3 micrograms per liter. In other words, the lab tests were incapable of detecting BPA below this concentration. If your drink a liter of water a day from a Sigg bottle, you could theoretically be ingesting 2 micrograms a day of BPA from this source, and the lab test cited by Sigg would be incapable of detecting it. Why is that important? I'll get to that in a sec...
report text at:
http://www.mysigg.com/images/assets/alliancetechbpareportjun82007.pdf
3. Why do they coat the Sigg bottles? Sigg bottles are aluminum. They must be coated to prevent aluminum from leaching into the bottle contents, because aluminum dissolves readily and remains in solution at low pH levels (acidic, such as in fruit juices). Aluminum has no human health benefits and is associated with several health problems including Alzheimer's disease and Lou Gehrig's disease.
A good summary on aluminum and human health:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/water-eau/alum_e.html
4. What is a safe human exposure limit for BPA? This is really the crux question, and one that nobody can answer. In the US, there are no safety standards for BPA. EPA has an outdated "reference standard" they use for testing purposes, of 50 micrograms per kG body weight per day. The EU, by contrast, uses a standard of 10 micrograms per kG body weight per day. Several studies found health effects in rodents at exposure levels as low as 2 micrograms per kG body weight per day. BPA is contained in virtually all canned foods, from baby formulas to tuna fish to soda pop, because they coat the cans with epoxy. Because there are many sources of exposure in our daily lives, and the effects are cumulative, I believe there is a high probability that levels of BPA below the reported detection limits in the Sigg test (3 micrograms/kG/day) could be significant.
5. Are Sigg bottles safe for human health? No one can reliably answer this question. To my mind, it is beyond doubt that there are significant unanswered questions regarding low level BPA exposure. This is a hot current debate among environmental health specialists and at top levels of the federal regulatory agencies, which is why congress has launched a federal investigation into the issue. To state otherwise would be misleading and disingenuous at best. While there may not be any definitive answers, there are certainly plenty of questions. Therefore, when the president of Sigg USA states that there is "scientific evidence that SIGG bottles are 100% safe" (email from Steve Wasik to Eddie Barcellos), that should set off some alarm bells. There is LIMITED scientific evidence that Sigg bottles do not leach BPA above 3 micrograms per liter. However, to jump from there to a statement that they are 100% safe is not supported by any evidence I have seen, and I doubt that I could find a credible toxicologist willing to go out on a limb and say that any level of BPA exposure is 100% safe.
6. Is nickel exposure (from stainless steel) as bad as BPA exposure? This is really comparing apples and oranges. BPA is an endocrine disrupter that can potentially affect human development. BPA is also implicated in certain cancers, notably prostate cancer. Nickel's primary health effect is that it causes an allergic reaction in individuals with a high sensitivity (estimated at 10-20% of the population by the US Dept of HHS). Probably the most common effect is a rash or other skin reaction from nickel in jewelry. Nickel is used in varying amounts in thousands of metal alloys, mainly to add strength to softer metals. Even surgical stainless steel, which is used for "hypoallergenic" jewelry for people with metal sensitivity, contains some nickel. Klean Kanteen claims their bottles are made with a steel alloy that has very low nickel content. I don't know if that is true or not.
For more on nickel, check out:
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs15.html
Looking at all the evidence, trying to sort the wheat from the chaff and makes sense of all the info, I have come to the conclusion that I would rather use a high quality stainless steel container than anything containing BPA, and I will switch my daughter's lunchbox water bottle to stainless. It seems likely that Sigg bottles are significantly better than Lexan, but until the scientific community can provide better direction on safe exposure levels, I prefer to eliminate any potential exposures whenever I can. I also plan to look closely at our canned food consumption (luckily, we don't drink soda, so I don't have to worry about that one). I suggest that anyone interested in this issue take a look at the Environmental Working Group's web pages on the topic at:
http://www.ewg.org/reports/bisphenola
That's my (extended) two cents.
Ben Alexander
Sound Native Plants
PO Box 7505
Olympia, WA 98507-7505
(360) 352-4122
www.soundnativeplants.com
I was recently a part of a group conversation that started when a retailer asked the group what water bottles manufacturer offers custom advertising on their bottles. One person offered Sigg as a possible company to go with. That is when the conversation turned to whether or not Sigg produces a safe water bottle. Many of you have been writing in looking for more information on Sigg. Since Sigg is not doing their best to answer these questions, it is up to us to find the best information available and go from there. I feel I have done just that and have come to a comfortable conclusion for myself, my family and my business. In order to more efficiently share my findings with you I have copied below, my responses to some of the comments and questions from the conversation.
********************************************
group comment: "You can get your logo on Sigg bottles"
my response: "As much as I loved Sigg bottles when I first saw them, they are lined with water-based epoxy which is why they do not recommend filling the bottle with anything warm or acidic. That surprised me. For some reason I thought being made in Europe meant it would be safer. Not the case. I would recommend Klean Kanteen. They personalize bottles too.
**********************************************
The President of Sigg, Steve Wasic's response to my comment: "SIGGs are tested thoroughly both in the USA and in Europe and the results are very consistent: SIGG bottles are 100% safe and show 0% leaching, even under unusually harsh conditions. In a recent laboratory test, SIGGs withstood 3 days in an oven set to 194 degrees Fahrenheit with no trace of leaching or damage to the bottle or liner.
The comments stated by Ms Maurer are incorrect. The SIGG liner is baked on at extremely high temperatures and becomes completely inert. SIGGs can hold beverages at high temperatures (even boiling – but you would not want to handle the bottle without a mitt – it gets hot!) and can hold all types of consumable beverages (even highly acidic beverages like apple or orange juice) without any damage to the bottle or the liner.
Stainless steel bottles from China are certainly an option, but there’s nothing like the 100 years of Swiss quality and design behind every SIGG.
Sincerely,
Steve Wasik President, SIGG USA
my letter in response to Mr Wasik:
Mr Wasic,
Regarding your Sigg Bottles:
They are lined with epoxy correct? One main (essential) ingredient in the creation of most epoxy resins is Bisphenol-A, the building block of polycarbonate. This epoxy was co-invented by a Swiss scientist named Dr. Pierre Castan,(wiki) not that that matters. I have written to you in the past asking for the ingredients in your epoxy resin. I did so because I loved how the bottles looked, already owned a few (trusted they were safe) and wanted to carry them in my store. You never responded, so I did my own research. Since then, your bottles have become vases in my home, still holding liquid, still looking pretty, but feeding cut flowers rather then my child or myself. Here's why:
The amount of Bisphonal A required to cause harm and eventually, cancer in our bodies, specifically in our endocrine systems (hormone function) is too small for human tools to detect (parts per billion). You would have to conduct a study on the effects the liquids contained in your bottles have on humans who are drinking from the bottle over a course of time. Or, you could choose mice or rats for your subjects. You have not done this and therefore I dismiss your statement that the lining of your bottles is safe. You do not know if they are safe in the longterm- which should be a concern of yours.
Time and time again, this claim is made by companies stating they have tested their products for leaching of Bisphenol A and it is understandable they are trying not to have their company bottom out, but it is horrifically irresponsible. Dow Corning did the same thing 10 years ago when a team of scientists at Tufts University accidentally discovered the Dow Corning manufactured test tubes they were using were made of Bisphenol A and leaching into what ever they were containing. Somehow, Dow Corning kept that information from being heard for 10 YEARS. We are now only starting to hear about it and it blows me away when I think of all of the products they make with Bisphenol-A and how much damage exposure for 10 years can do to our bodies. And exposure isn't just from direct use of Bisphenol-A, it is very prevalent in our landfills and therefore our drinking water. We need to stop producing it, period.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/nature/interviews/vomsaal.html
If I have to choose between a toxin-free product made responsibly in China or a product made with BPA in Switzerland, I'm afraid it's going to be China, Mr Wasic. To my knowledge, European Bisphenol A is no less harmful then that in the US or China. Just because something is Swiss/European doesn't mean it is safe. Just because something is from China, doesn't make it harmful. Just because something has been a tradition for 100 years doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.
Since the market will demand whether Bisphenol A is used or not, it is up to retailers and consumers to stop buying goods containing this chemical. It is a petroleum based toxin and it is not sustainable. It is potentially causing cancer and it needs to be eliminated from existance.
As for your bottles Mr Wasic, I would love to hear that your epoxy is a special epoxy that does not contain a harmful toxin such as Bisphenol A or that you have conducted extensive peer-reviewed studies using relevant levels, subjects and tools because as I said before, your make a very attractive product.
I would love to hear this Mr Wasic but you would have to write me back this time.
Sincerely,
Amelia Royko Maurer
****************************************
question from group: "Are you saying even just water is a risk? "
my response:
My understanding is that polycarbonate can leach BPA with the slightest ph change. I personally would not drink anything out of an epoxy lined bottle, not even water. I found this on WIKI :
link to wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoxy#Health_risks
"The primary risk associated with epoxy use is sensitization to the hardener, which, over time, can induce an allergic reaction.
Both epichlorohydrin and bisphenol A are suspected endocrine disruptors.
According to some reports [5] Bisphenol A is linked to the following effects in humans:
- xenoestrogenic activity;
- alteration of male reproductive organs;
- early puberty induction;
- shortened duration of breast feeding;
- pancreatic cancer "
And this is an email exchange I had Dr Fredrick Vom Saal (a scientist who broke the story about Bisphenol A 10 years ago) after reading his interview on PBS:
Dear Mr. Frederick vom Saal,
I am a concerned 32 year old mother of an 8 month old girl, trying to make responsible decisions for the good of my daughters health, as well as my own. My mother and grandmother have both died from breast cancer. What is your advice regarding xenoestrogens? Since I have already been exposed to so many, can I do anything to undo possible damage to my daughter? I have eaten predominantly organic whole foods and avoided pesticides to best of my ability for the last 12 years but I grew up on a golfcourse and in a home where food was heated up in plastic and labels were never read. What can I do besides read labels and store food in glass? I am so very concerned for my daughter and want more then anything to grow old beside her . What would you do in my shoes?
Thank you,
Amelia Royko Maurer
-- Dear Mrs. Maurer: Most people do not know that with rare exceptions genetics is much less important than environmental exposures in breast cancer. Try to avoid heating any plastic or using plastic products. Avoid any pesticides and cosmetics as well as any other type of manmade chemicals, since few have been tested for safety - the rule being safe until proven guilty, which is not easy to do.
It sounds as if you are doing everything that you can do to be healthy.
Good luck,
Fred vom Saal
Frederick S. vom Saal
105 Lefevre Hall
Division of Biological Sciences
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
*******************************************
question from group: "I posted some of this on Mothering.com and had someone come back and say the liners were enamel. not epoxy. do you know?"
my response:
When I bought my first Sigg bottle, I called the company up and asked what the liner was all about. They said something like they were working on a patent and could not yet reveal what it was. So I waited and wrote again. Then I would just periodically check in at their website to see if they had given the answer yet. Finally one day it said the liner was a "water based epoxy resin". If you look today, they have removed the word epoxy, but the funny thing is, none of their other retailers have, which looks a little obvious, especially since their descriptions of it all match accept for the missing word "epoxy". They mention that it is not plastic- which is true, nonetheless, BPA is used to make most epoxy resins. They also rave about FDA approval. Polycarbonate among other not-so-wonderful things have been approved by the FDA. It seems a little weird to be using the FDA as the single responsible filter for safety these days. Below I've attached other retailer descriptions along with a definition of water based epoxy resin.
http://www.amazon.com/Sigg-Lifestyle-Water-Bottle-1-0-Liters/dp/B000RI4ES4
"They also feature Sigg's proprietary baked-on inner liner, which is made from a non-toxic, water-based epoxy resin that exceeds FDA requirements for leaching (0.0 percent) and is independently tested to be taste- and scent-neutral. Every Sigg bottle is 100 percent recyclable at the end of its life, and is backed by a lifetime warranty."
http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/shopping-bags-50
"This special, baked-on inner liner is a water-based epoxy resin exceeding FDA requirements and independently tested (Nehring, Germany) to prove 0% leaching."
http://www.alpineer.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=809990!sig01
"baked-on, water-based epoxy resin; exceeds FDA requirements; flexible and crack resistant; resists fruit acids and isotonic drinks"
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4421906.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoxy
Again, I hope they prove me wrong, but to do that they would have to actually reveal what they use AND call me back.
Amelia
***********************************************
comment from Ben Alexander of Sound Native Plants
Ben Alexander writes
At the risk of belaboring this issue, several issues were left hanging. From my perspective:
1. Is BPA a health risk or not? After looking at all the information out there, I believe the evidence is overwhelming that BPA can cause serious health problems. The fact that EPA does not support Dr. Saal's research does not convince me. According to the NRDC, which employs some of the finest environmental scientists in the country:
"Chemical manufacturers have funded many studies that have almost uniformly concluded that endocrine disruption does not occur or, if it does, is not harmful. This is hardly surprising because a great deal of money is at stake. (To offer just one example: In 2002 U.S. companies produced 2.8 million tons of bisphenol A [BPA], a synthetic estrogen used to make baby bottles, plastic water bottles, dental sealants, and resin liners for metal food cans. At 94 cents a pound, this translates to sales of more than $5.3 billion in that year alone.) By contrast, federally funded academic researchers, who have no financial stake in the outcome of their work, have found much compelling evidence that synthetic chemicals, including BPA, do cause endocrine disruption and that the damage can be serious."
And, regarding Dr Saal's research specifically:
"Chemical manufacturers have worked hard to counter this academic research, hiring chemists to study and discredit the results. Vom Saal and others have had to spend enormous amounts of time and money defending their work, resources better devoted to moving forward onto new ground. Researchers funded by industry, curiously, tend to find that every chemical is safe. In 2004, vom Saal tallied up results of all the studies he could find on BPA. He discovered that of 104 studies done by independent researchers, 94 found adverse effects and 10 found no effects. Of the 11 studies conducted by industry-supported researchers, zero identified adverse effects. Marian Stanley, a spokesperson for the American Chemical Council, which represents the interests of chemical manufacturers, says, "We are unaware of any big discrepancies between the experimental research supported by industry and by others. Animal studies -- that is, credible experimental research -- from all sectors show basically the same results across the board."
full text at:
http://www.nrdc.org/onearth/06win/chem3.asp
Federal agencies have been systematically ignoring their own scientists' warnings about the health risks of BPA exposure. As a result, congress has launched an investigation into this topic. In fact, last week the National Institutes of Health caved to congressional pressure and announced that they would launch an investigation into the Center for the Evaluation of Risk to Human Reproduction’s controversial report on BPA, which ignored their own scientists' recommendations in favor of industry-funded BPA research.
source: http://www.ewg.org/node/25864
2. Do Sigg bottles contain BPA in the liner? Probably, since it is almost certainly an epoxy liner, but what really matters is whether BPA leaches into the water. The only current research offered by Sigg on this topic was a study they paid for, conducted by Alliance Technologies, LLC of New Jersey, in 2007. This for-profit lab's mission is to support business and industry R&D. There has been no independent, peer-reviewed research on this topic. That alone makes the results questionable; however, the lab could still produce reliable results. Assuming we accept the study at face value, the limits of BPA detection for the lab's methodology, according to their report, is 2 ppb, which is equivalent to 3 micrograms per liter. In other words, the lab tests were incapable of detecting BPA below this concentration. If your drink a liter of water a day from a Sigg bottle, you could theoretically be ingesting 2 micrograms a day of BPA from this source, and the lab test cited by Sigg would be incapable of detecting it. Why is that important? I'll get to that in a sec...
report text at:
http://www.mysigg.com/images/assets/alliancetechbpareportjun82007.pdf
3. Why do they coat the Sigg bottles? Sigg bottles are aluminum. They must be coated to prevent aluminum from leaching into the bottle contents, because aluminum dissolves readily and remains in solution at low pH levels (acidic, such as in fruit juices). Aluminum has no human health benefits and is associated with several health problems including Alzheimer's disease and Lou Gehrig's disease.
A good summary on aluminum and human health:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/water-eau/alum_e.html
4. What is a safe human exposure limit for BPA? This is really the crux question, and one that nobody can answer. In the US, there are no safety standards for BPA. EPA has an outdated "reference standard" they use for testing purposes, of 50 micrograms per kG body weight per day. The EU, by contrast, uses a standard of 10 micrograms per kG body weight per day. Several studies found health effects in rodents at exposure levels as low as 2 micrograms per kG body weight per day. BPA is contained in virtually all canned foods, from baby formulas to tuna fish to soda pop, because they coat the cans with epoxy. Because there are many sources of exposure in our daily lives, and the effects are cumulative, I believe there is a high probability that levels of BPA below the reported detection limits in the Sigg test (3 micrograms/kG/day) could be significant.
5. Are Sigg bottles safe for human health? No one can reliably answer this question. To my mind, it is beyond doubt that there are significant unanswered questions regarding low level BPA exposure. This is a hot current debate among environmental health specialists and at top levels of the federal regulatory agencies, which is why congress has launched a federal investigation into the issue. To state otherwise would be misleading and disingenuous at best. While there may not be any definitive answers, there are certainly plenty of questions. Therefore, when the president of Sigg USA states that there is "scientific evidence that SIGG bottles are 100% safe" (email from Steve Wasik to Eddie Barcellos), that should set off some alarm bells. There is LIMITED scientific evidence that Sigg bottles do not leach BPA above 3 micrograms per liter. However, to jump from there to a statement that they are 100% safe is not supported by any evidence I have seen, and I doubt that I could find a credible toxicologist willing to go out on a limb and say that any level of BPA exposure is 100% safe.
6. Is nickel exposure (from stainless steel) as bad as BPA exposure? This is really comparing apples and oranges. BPA is an endocrine disrupter that can potentially affect human development. BPA is also implicated in certain cancers, notably prostate cancer. Nickel's primary health effect is that it causes an allergic reaction in individuals with a high sensitivity (estimated at 10-20% of the population by the US Dept of HHS). Probably the most common effect is a rash or other skin reaction from nickel in jewelry. Nickel is used in varying amounts in thousands of metal alloys, mainly to add strength to softer metals. Even surgical stainless steel, which is used for "hypoallergenic" jewelry for people with metal sensitivity, contains some nickel. Klean Kanteen claims their bottles are made with a steel alloy that has very low nickel content. I don't know if that is true or not.
For more on nickel, check out:
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs15.html
Looking at all the evidence, trying to sort the wheat from the chaff and makes sense of all the info, I have come to the conclusion that I would rather use a high quality stainless steel container than anything containing BPA, and I will switch my daughter's lunchbox water bottle to stainless. It seems likely that Sigg bottles are significantly better than Lexan, but until the scientific community can provide better direction on safe exposure levels, I prefer to eliminate any potential exposures whenever I can. I also plan to look closely at our canned food consumption (luckily, we don't drink soda, so I don't have to worry about that one). I suggest that anyone interested in this issue take a look at the Environmental Working Group's web pages on the topic at:
http://www.ewg.org/reports/bisphenola
That's my (extended) two cents.
Ben Alexander
Sound Native Plants
PO Box 7505
Olympia, WA 98507-7505
(360) 352-4122
www.soundnativeplants.com
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