Polycarbonate bottles

[fencerdenoctum]

http://www.enn.com/health/article/30284

According to this article (its just the first article I found on this study that was just released that wasn't some video clip) Polycarbonate bottles release a lot more BPA (Bisphenol A) when exposed to hot or boiling liquids. I know some of us on the board use these things to either make their tea in or to transport it so I thought this article might be of some use. Not trying to be alarmist about it but I just think its interesting.

From other things I've read while they know it does in fact release, no one is sure what levels are safe and hazardous but I think its worth discussing.

I don't know much about this kind of thing so I thought I would let more of our scientifically inclined folks take a look at this. Any one actually have access to the journal that this study is in?

The Tea Sipping Swordsman
Fencerdenoctum

[Wesli]

This is old news. My mom raised me not to use plastic for hot foods/liquids, etc etc. Never had a Nalgene in my life.

[scruffmcgruff]

I don't think "because mom says so" necessarily makes it true. The plastic thing may or may not actually be true (I haven't looked into it much, and my mom had higher priorities than the ethics of plastic vessel usage when it came to raising me), but I think the term "old wives' tale" proves my point well enough.

[Chip]

I am asking you all respectfully to relax. Thanx!!!

[zeto]

It's not ethics of use, it's science of use, and my mother also always taught me not to use plastics or their derivatives with hot liquids or in the microwave. The science behind it is solid, so sometimes an 'old wive's tale' is simply a tried and true 'rule of thumb.'

Everything is going to dissolve into water to some degree. Whether it's simply by mechanical action or polarity, I personally don't suggest drinking out of anything that you couldn't reliably eat by itself. If you use metal, you will inevitably drink some metal, coatings, waxes, plastics, teflon, minerals in clays, glass particles... whatever your vessel is made out of. Whether or not they will kill you quickly or slowly is up for debate.. but not the rest really.

[rhpot1991]

I have discussed this issue a few times around here before. I use Nalgene bottles to take my iced tea and OJ to work. I have always played by the hot liquid in plastic tastes like plastic rule, this sometimes even applies to non-hot liquids. So I think the best solution here is to make your iced tea in a glass pitcher and then fill up your plastic bottle when the tea is cool (as I do), or to just find a new bottle (I searched around for alternates, but couldn't find anything that would survive frequent trips to work and back).

-John

[forkyfork]

A few months ago, I switched from my generic PolyC water bottle to a Sigg Stainless steel bottle. The bottle is a bit pricey (around $20), but it's held up pretty well. The designs are really pretty and the tops are interchangeable if you decide to buy more than one (which I haven't). Also, health issues aside, stainless steel keeps my water cooler longer than PolyC does.

Also, it's a comforting fact to be using something regularly that isn't made in China (it's made in Switzerland, btw).

FYI - I've only put water in these things. I'm too afraid to put any actual liquid, because I don't want to clean it. I drink all of my tea out of ceramic, anyway.

[joelbct]

In my recent experience, room temp or cold tea tastes fine in a Nalgene (not sure of health implications, but it tastes fine).

Just today, however, I discovered that hot tea in a nalgene does indeed taste like plastic! Good to know... In the future, I will stick to powdered sencha in a bind, or leave time for fresh hot sencha to cool in a glass pitcher, before transferring to the ol' nalgene...



PS, crap, according to that article, a nalgene bottle exposed to boiling water KEEPS releasing the estrogen-like compounds even after the water used is cool again... Bummer, means I need a new botle, and no more automatic dishwasher machine washing of nalgene bottles, I suppose....

[zeto]

I'll also add that the 'cloudy' type plastics are more likely to make water, at any temperature, taste like plastic than clear types... as a general rule of thumb.

Keep that in mind when buying your large jugs of spring water.