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What about SIGG and Bisphenol-A?

Glass bottles have become our best alternative.









In August 2009, SIGG revealed that bottles manufactured prior to August 2008 had a lining formulated with Bisphenol-A (BPA).

Exactly what the new lining is made from has not been disclosed, but SIGG has given some hints here.

There is justified debate about how SIGG has handled the situation and whether they can, or deserve to, be trusted. Many sites can be found to engage in that discussion.


The revelation presented us with a quandary.


We're helping someone recover from toxic burden, and this person is sensitive to nickel. Initially we adopted SIGG bottles in order to avoid nickel exposure from stainless steel.

We thought SIGG was a ‘safe’ choice because we believed the bottle lining was inert.


But older SIGG bottles do in fact leach BPA in the parts-per-trillion range under normal conditions and just below 2 parts-per-billion under acidic conditions.


Which risk is more tolerable in our case? A trace amount of nickel or a trace amount of BPA?


In our situation, combined 'trace' amounts of toxicants can cause problems.

'None' would be best, but 'none' isn't reality.


So how do we decide which toxicant is the greater risk with regards to unbreakable water bottles?

It is impossible to know.


Toxic synergy, hormesis, timing, and other factors are always involved and there is no way to precisely measure or monitor the problem.

Also, other sources of BPA and nickel exist in our daily environment — often at higher levels than we're contending with in these bottles.


SIGG offered to replace the old bottles with new ones.

According to this, SIGG’s new EcoCare liner is composed of

Griltex® polyester
Mineral fillers
Flow Additives
Pigments

The company tries to reassure that “All the ingredients, as well as the final liner recipe, have been repeatedly tested and approved for food contact use.”

But what is Griltex made from? What exactly are those unspecified fillers, additives, and pigments?


Too many unknowns.

It will take independent research and testing to prove that no toxicants leach from the new lining.

Meanwhile we moved on.


Glass has become our best choice.

Glass is inexpensive, easy to replace, easy to recycle.


Glass requires more careful handling, but that hasn’t turned out to be a problem for us.


Note: It is difficult to find glass that is truly lead (Pb) free. The government allows levels up to 10 ppm to be labeled "lead free".



A reminder: nickel is a known problem in our situation. If it weren't, we would feel very comfortable using Kleen Kanteen and that might be a great solution for you.