Which bottles contain BPA?

[cgallery]

I was wondering, do the plastic bottles that bottled water and soft drinks come in contain BPA? It appears that aluminum cans are sprayed with the stuff? And it also appears that sports bottles (those reusable hard plastic bottles) made of polycarbonate contain BPA. Just wondering if I'm having a plastic bottle of Diet Coke whether I'm also ingesting BPA.

Not that I'm terribly worried, BTW, just kinda curious.

[Richard in Smithville]

This is what we were told on the news here in the great white north. If the plastic bottle has one of these symbols with the number 7 in the center( like the one on the bottom right), it has BPA.

[MilDoc]

Yep, look for the #7, others have no BPA.

[Zenaca]

Okay so what is BPA?

[newfoto]

Bpa

My understanding is, you have to heat the bottle to release the BPA, like you would a baby bottle. No indication that it it harmful to adults, though.

-Mike

[Tom Slick]

single use water and soda bottles are usually #1 (PET) and are considered safe for single use. #7 is the "other" so it catches all other forms of recyclable plastic. The BPA issue is (as usual) getting blown out of proportion. If you look at the real data it takes 1000's of times more concentration to do any harm then what can be released from a bottle. It's the latest shark bite outbreak, sars, bird flu, alar on apples, mad cow media hype.

[MilDoc]

OK, let's get this straight. You do not have to heat the bottle to extract BPA.
Secondly, the studies that show no harm from BPA are all funded by the chemical industry in one way or another.

Third, studies funded by non-chemical industry sources all (that is, 100%) show potential harm.

BPA has hormone like effects on the human body. period. It should be banned.

And, if you expose yourself, or your kids, to BPA over a lifetime, the small amount in each exposure probably doesn't matter at all. It's the cumulative dose that matters. Just like asbestos. Just like coal dust.

If you want to blow this off, be my guest.

[Tom Slick]

You have a good point, all of my sources have been "industry" in one way or another. How come it is all of a sudden a big deal? it's not like we just started using plastics last year.

If I stopped doing/consuming everything that is ever "reported" as bad I would just have to die or everything else would kill me. When these reports come out I am skeptical of the sky falling due to the media constantly crying wolf.

[Gator95]

I'm a chemist. In the household cleaning products industry we have been looking at materials in the same class as BPA (alkylphenols) for a while. We have removed them from all products. In our products, it is easy to find cost-effective substitutes that have minimal adverse impact on product performance.

To an adult BPA and other similar alkylphenols should have little or no effect on your health. However, the effect of these materials on developing endrocrine systems is different. Very very low levels of hormones can trigger unpredictable changes.

[footprintsinconc]

check this link out.

now my question is:

all of our water bottles that we use over and over have a number 7 under it. we have two kids. they use/need water bottles, where do i go and get them a water bottle from that does not have a 7 under it. i went to walmart + target. have not gone anywhere else yet.

[williwatt]

The Truth About #7

On the website www.camelbak.com where they sell non-BPA water bottles, they have a paragraph on the truth about #7:

"Contrary to recent media reports [including The Today Show from April 10th] a plastic bottle marked with the #7 does not imply bisphenol-A (BPA). The #7 indicator is a recycling code, which is used for all plastics that do not fit into the #1-#6 designation. The #7 includes many different types of plastic, but does not mean it contains BPA."

[williwatt]

List of Plastic Recycling Codes

The website http://www.ides.com/resources/plasti...ling-codes.asp lists the 7 plastic recycling codes and what plastics are included in each.

[Stytooner]

Warning! Shark Guards may cause gayness if eaten.

[Richard in Smithville]

Warning! Shark Guards may cause gayness if eaten.

Eating shark guards makes you happy?

[MilDoc]

I don't know why this has become a "big deal" all of a sudden. But it is not all of a sudden to me. I have been following the BPA controversy for over 10 years now. In may be that the chemical industry has successfully kept it "under wraps" for a long time since all of their studies say it's harmless. Remember all the tobacco "research" showing no harm at all? All studies funded by tobacco companies?

Some studies in other countries have linked BPA in the blood to infertility in men. To early puberty in girls. But the biggest question is what is the effect on the newborn's developing endocrine system?

BPA does cause endocrine abnormalities in animal studies, in doses the same as humans are exposed to. Not megadoses.

And williwatt is correct. The #7 "probably" includes BPA, but it may be present in other numbered plastics, too. It's function is to make plastics more pliable. That's about all.

Personally, I quit microwaving anything in plastic years ago. And I don't use plastic wrap - aluminum foil is safer. And I don't buy bottled water (who needs it? In many cases it's nothing more than filtered tap water, and tests show that some brands are no "cleaner" than your home tap water).