Mountain Equipment pulls water bottles off shelves

Oh, geez! Manufacturers of bottled water have attempted to claim refilling a water bottle is somehow a health risk. That is bullshit, just an excuse to sell more product. Now they're claiming water bottles purchased from a sporting goods store is a health risk. It's time to sue those making such claims. Reusing products like a water bottle is what you're to do! Wild claims to sell more disposable product have to stop, we have to start taking legal action.

Actually... they are right. TO date, the only safe bottle to drink from are Sigg and Clean Canteen

Sigg Canada

Safe Canteen USA


My bottle

I think it's a pile of crap too. What's the difference in plastic for a Nalgene water bottle and what you buy in the store? They're both polycarbonate plastic.

All plastic bottle... of any kind should not be refilled.... they release too much harmfull chemicals.

Then why was water put in them in the first place?

That's what I want to know. If the manufacturers know these bottles are dangerous, why are they allowed to continue using them?

What are the "health risks" exactly?

Nalgene-type bottles leach an estrogen-like chemical - that's not the case with regular "bottled water" bottles. It's been proposed that this can lead to hormone imbalance, chromosomal disruption, miscarriages, birth defects, or obesity (

However, there's an issue with those soft plastic water bottles - that scratches easily develop and promote bacteria growth. The harder plastic bottles (that you typically buy water in) are less susceptible to this, but are still apparently prone to bacteria growth, and aren't designed to withstand washing.

From what I've read, bacteria growth is more serious than chemical leaching.

Glass or stainless steel bottles are the way to go if you're concerned with either issue.

The difference is in what chemicals are used to make the plastic, and how they behave in the body.

Typical, transparent Nalgenes are made from polycarbonate (PC). Bottled water bottles are polyethylene terephthalate (PETE). Nalgene also makes a non-transparent bottle from high density polyethylene (HDPE).

I'm no plastics expert or even an organic chemist, but they all use different chemicals in their production and leach different chemicals into the stuff they store. Some of these chemicals can do weird things with your hormones, others dont.

From what I can tell, the HDPE bottles don't release the chemicals that screw with your hormones. Problem is, they're milky and not as pretty as the crystal-clear PETE and PC bottles, so they don't sell as well.

There's probably at least a grain of truth to the claims of ill effects, but whether it's overblown is hard to tell.

Just buy the ugly bottle and you're probably okay. =]

Ah, missed this post, yea, the scrathes could eb cause for concern. But a good bleaching should probably take care of that.

You're probably right, though, in that glass or metal would be best.

Here's something I just thought of. Plastics all come from dead plant and animal material. You can make it look pretty, but at the end of the day, it's still dead stuff. Dead stuff is just bad news. better to go with stuff that was never alive in the first place (glass, metal, both of which are infinitely recyclable too).

Well, I don't think there's anything in industrial plastics that resembles in any way the dinosaur poop it came from...

I just went and priced one out,$69.00.....Think I'll stick to a plastic one,havent died yet.

It would probably never make it through airport security anyways.I hate it when those fuckers take away my water bottle and extra lighters.

All plastic bottle... of any kind should not be refilled.... they release too much harmful chemicals.
If leaching chemicals were such a problem, then new bottles are even more so. Plastic will off-gas non-polymerized chemicals more when it's new, less after it's older. That's because the chemicals that have not combined to form plastic have left, either by off-gassing or leaching. Furthermore, new bottles will sit in a warehouse, transport truck, and store shelves much longer than water you put in yourself. So there will be much more chemicals in a new bottle than a refilled one.

As for bacteria, it's called washing. If you don't wash a plate or cup or fork or spoon, then you could get bacteria. There won't be any more bacteria in a washed water bottle than any other washed dishes. And you know what bacteria will be there, it's stuff from your own kitchen. If you're worried about scratches, just look at the bottle. If it becomes milky white with scratches then don't use it. If it's still clear then it doesn't have scratches. Simple.

Polycarbonate has the advantage it's much harder and stronger than PET. There will be fewer scratches, hence much less chance of that bacteria boogieman. Besides, clear polycarbonate also shows scratches, again if it's so scratched you can't see through it then don't use it; if it's still clear then it isn't scratched so use it.

So back to chemical residue. The detailed chemical steps to make polycarbonate are:
acetone + phenol + hydrochloric acid -> bisphenol-A
bisophenol-A + sodium hydroxide -> sodium salt of bisophenol-A
carbon monoxide + chlorine -> phosgene
sodium salt of bisophenol-A + phosgene -> polycarbonate

Those who are sharp will notice what bisphenol-A reacts with: phosgene. That's a poison gas used in World War 1. If there's any of that in the plastic it would be toxic. In fact breathing it is poisonous, so it couldn't be used for hockey helmet visors either. But it doesn't off-gas because the manufacturing process ensures all the phosgene gas is reacted to form plastic. There isn't anything to leach out.

If you want to know other plastics, let's start with PET:
naphthalene is an olefin, a large hydrocarbon: C10H8
terebinth is refined terpentine
naphthalene + terebinth -> terephthalic acid
terephthalic acid + glycol -> Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)

High Density PolyEthylene (HDPE):
ethylene + ½ O2 -> ethylene oxide
ethylene oxide + water -> ethylene glycol over a silver catalyst @ 250°C
polymerize using a catalyst

Acrylic technically known as Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA):
ethylene -> propylene
propylene -> glycerol
glycerol -> acrolein
acrolein + O2 -> acrylic acid
polymerization of acrylic acid

So if you're looking for the ideal material to use for food, use acrylic. It's hard like polycarbonate, not soft and squishy like PET. Don't use polystyrene, it yellows rapidly from UV light.

A number of plastics have nasty chemical intermediates. For example, nylon uses hydrogen cyanide in an early step. Melamine uses ammonia and urea. PVC or vinyl uses chlorine gas. The pink binder used to hold fibres together for fibreglass "pink" insulation is phenolformaldehyde, made from phenol and formaldehyde. The pink stuff is a lot less toxic than the yellow stuff they used to use for fibreglass, that was ureaformaldehyde. Yup, if you have yellow fibreglass in your walls you do have a little ureaformaldehyde, it's a tiny amount compared to foam insulation (UFFI) but there is a little there.

The one plastic that does leach significantly is ABS. To put it simply, that is a co-polymer of butadiene rubber (BR) with styrene. ABS stands for Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene. It's strong and resists stomach acid (puke) so is useful for drain pipes, but don't use it for drinking water because it does leach chemicals.

Actually... they are right. TO date, the only safe bottle to drink from are Sigg and Clean Canteen

Sigg Canada

Safe Canteen USA


My bottle



Arent you worried about the titanium leaching into the water?
It looks pretty but....