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Nalgene Maker Sued over Possible Toxin in Plastic Bottles
April 25, 2008 01:33 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
A consumer has filed a lawsuit against the maker of Nalgene water bottles over the presence of bisphenol A (BPA) in the company’s hard plastic bottles.
30-Second Summary
Lani Felix-Lozano, a California mother, is seeking unspecified damages in her suit against Nalge Nunc International Corp., maker of Nalgene bottles. Studies have linked BPA to hormone disruptions, and a National Toxicology Program report agrees there is “some concern” about BPA’s effect on fetus and infant brains.
In Discover Magazine, Jill Neimark writes that the health threat plastics may pose is different from any faced before.
“If plastic harms, it does so by stealth: by mimicking our own hormones, by scrambling signals during development, by stimulating our own pathways excessively. And it may have that power at astonishingly low exposure levels, amounts that by typical toxicological measures look just fine.”
BPA’s prevalence angers some. Aaron Rowe of Wired magazine said it “should have been banned a long time ago, as a precautionary measure, but regulators were asleep at the switch—allowing the chemical industry to run roughshod over them.”
Others predicted the legal system’s involvement. “Soon, we know all too well, will come the plaintiffs’ lawyers to ‘protect’ the public from the non-existent (but lucrative) threats lurking in our plastic bottles,” said Gilbert Ross of the American Council on Science and Health in a Washington Times commentary.
In Discover Magazine, Jill Neimark writes that the health threat plastics may pose is different from any faced before.
“If plastic harms, it does so by stealth: by mimicking our own hormones, by scrambling signals during development, by stimulating our own pathways excessively. And it may have that power at astonishingly low exposure levels, amounts that by typical toxicological measures look just fine.”
BPA’s prevalence angers some. Aaron Rowe of Wired magazine said it “should have been banned a long time ago, as a precautionary measure, but regulators were asleep at the switch—allowing the chemical industry to run roughshod over them.”
Others predicted the legal system’s involvement. “Soon, we know all too well, will come the plaintiffs’ lawyers to ‘protect’ the public from the non-existent (but lucrative) threats lurking in our plastic bottles,” said Gilbert Ross of the American Council on Science and Health in a Washington Times commentary.
Headline Links: Hard plastic bottle manufacturer sued
Lani Felix-Lozano is seeking unspecified damages in her suit against Nalge Nunc International Corp., maker of Nalgene bottles. Felix-Lozano, in the suit filed in U.S. District Court, does not say she or her family suffered any actual physical problems brought on by the bottles, according to Reuters.
Source: Reuters
Neimark describes studies involving BPA and phthalates, and quotes experts that talk about the difficulty in limiting exposure. “For instance, the milk you’re drinking was pumped through plastic tubes. And you can’t store milk in permeable paper cartons—they have plastic linings. Even if you try, you don’t know whether you’re limiting your exposure by 5 percent or 95 percent,” said Ana Soto, a cellular biology professor at Tufts University.
Source: Discover Magazine
Opinion: BPA ‘hysteria’; substance should have been banned long ago
Gilbert Ross, head of the American Council on Science and Health, said in the Washington Times: “There is no cause for concern, much less alarm, over the tiny exposures we face from plastic bottles made with BPA. The hysteria, aggravated by reports of moms nationwide throwing out ‘toxic’ baby bottles with the number 7 on them, is based (as usual) on rat tests and ‘general themes’ of toxicity, rather than on anything approaching scientific evidence.”
Source: Washington Times
Aaron Rowe on the Wired Science blog says it took the United States 20 years to react to BPA concerns because “humans are terrible at reacting to subtle threats.” He also accuses regulatory agencies of “incompetence or corruption” and says the chemical industry gave “a healthy dose of deception.”
Source: Wired
Background: BPA raises concerns for scientists, consumers
A U.S. National Toxicology Program report says there is “some concern” about the exposure of BPA to infants and small children.
Source: findingDulcinea
Related: Plastics are a part of life
In the first hour of her day, Jill Neimark lists nearly two dozen items made of plastic that she uses in her apartment.
Source: Discover Magazine
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
