Nalgene water bottles, the popular reusable sports accessory made with bisphenol, is going to be pulled from the shelves due to the belief that the chemical used in making the hard plastic poses a potential health risk.
Since 2000, the multi-colored bottles have become widely-used among students on high school and college campuses because the bottles are light-weight and resistant to damage. The bottles also serve as an environmentally sound replacement for disposable water bottles.
Studies in Japan maintain that the amount of bisphenol found in the bottles is too low to cause any real damage to humans, however, a panel of US government researchers who attended a National Institutes of Health conference maintain that BPA does pose a concern and that more research is needed.
More than six million pound of bisphenol A is produced in the US each year and the chemical is found in hundreds of household goods. However, the chemical has been linked to neurological and behavior problems in infants and babies, as well as cancer, diabetes, and obesity in adults.
Nalgene intends to replace the chemical with BPA-free alternatives, and the general manager of the company Steven Silverman issued the following statement:
“By eliminating containers containing BPA from our consumer product mix, our customers can have confidence that their needs are being met.”
