Hullo fellow hikers. My girlfriend and I have differing opinion on the toxicity of plastic nalgenes, either lexan or smokey-hued white plastic. THere have been several reports indicating that drinking from certain types of plastic is harmful…If so, what types? Are Nalgene bottles harmful to the reproductive organs when gulped from, b/c if so, I’m screwed. Please cite web articles if applicable. Thanks for the information, time to do some of my own research!
Hawkeye 04
File this under “Mike ate pop rocks and died” 
http://www.snopes.com/toxins/bottles.asp
Long stort short of the article: the toxicity of plastic bottles (which has gone from merely water bottles to all form of water bottles in the urban legend world) was from a grad student thesis that was not initially peer reviewed and later found to be wrong.
Drink, be sure to clean your bottles, and don’t worry. I would switch to Gatarade/soda bottles because they are lighter and durable.
Mags
Nalgene products are extremely popular. Millions of folks have used them. If you’re being screwed, you will be part of the biggest group grope in history.
booger
there might be something wrong w/ it, i’ve heard that also, but there’s also something harful with driving down the road, walking down the stairs, ****, if i live worrying about what kind of plastic i’m drinking out of, i quit
clong
The concern with lexan is that a chemical called BPA may leak out of the plastic and that BPA might be a Bad Thing.
The story began when a solvent was used to clean mouse cages made of a lexan-like plastic. This apparently caused BPA to leach out. Then chromosomal abnormalities were found in the eggs of 40% of the mice. To me, this sounded bad, but very preliminary and quite distant from human health-- just something to keep an eye on.
Since then, the plastics industry has pounced all over the issue, denigrating this study and announcing that others following “internationally accepted standards” (?) have found that BPA does NOT leach out of lexan, BPA does NOT cause health problems in low doses, and BPA actually makes your children kinder, stronger, and smarter.
Okay, I made up the last bit, but the plastics industry web pages DO read like the usual smoking-is-healthy, acid-rain-is-a-myth, there-is-no-global-warming, strip-mining-is-fun-for-the-whole-family corporate propaganda. So I don’t give them any weight.
For an industry rant, look here. For an anti-industry rant, look here.
My personal bet is that both lexan and DEET (an even more popular bogeyman) are quite safe relative to, say, negotiating city traffic.
Eric
That last page may be an anti-industry rant, but the linked articles were released by qualified, independant sources.
“An independently funded, academic laboratory can verify controversial BPA results”
“In cell culture experiments, BPA at very low (nanomolar levels) stimulates androgen-independent proliferation of prostate cancer cells”
“At extremely low levels, BPA promotes fat cell (adipocyte) differentiation and accumulation of lipids”
“German scientists measured bisphenol A in the blood of pregnant women, in umbilical blood at birth and in placental tissue. All samples examined contained BPA, at levels within the range shown to alter development. Thus widespread exposure to BPA at levels of concern is no longer a hypothetical issue. It is occurring”
We live in a time when one out of two men will develop cancer, and one out of three women will develop cancer. BPA, no doubt, is one of many contributing factors.
We’re killing ourselves for convenience. 
Toes
We use lexan everyday in the chef/foodservice industry. Every restaurant in every city probably does. The only Thing I can say is if you are going to mix powder drinks in them get a see thru kind they do not retain the taste or odor of product.
Chef
I don’t know a lot about this, but I have heard about free radicals in plastics that gradually leave the plastic and enter your body. I don’t need experimental research to know that plastic in my body is not a good thing. The question is: Which plastics if any have less free radicals, and what is an alternative to plastic?
Tha Wookie
there’s no cure, there’s no answer.
Anyone remember that song?
The best reference on plastic and other chemical influences on human metabolism is,
Our Stolen Future, by Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John P. Marks.
It is sort of a later day “Silent Spring”. The issue is not really whether platics and related chemicals are in theory bad for you (they are), or whether any one exposure is detrimental (most likely not), but the issue of the cummulative exposure to chemicals that mimic human hormonal function. The effects over many years, including prenatal and childhood effects, are likely to be pretty significant. As a result, any day now I expect to see hikers carrying those glass bottles and eating only pure, air dried foods. Modern society has its drawbacks. But if you want to be informed, read the book. Page 130 for the first scary reference to all things polycarbonate. Gets worse from there.
Chemical Jimbo
As a Plastics Engineer, I literally live and breathe this stuff every day. Toes’ comment that we are killing ourselves for convenience is all too true.
Polycarbonate (PC) is great for impact strength and is lighter than glass, making it a popular replacement. But understand that there are hundreds of grades of PC available. In my G.E. Plastics LEXAN book, there are 55 different grades listed. The formulation for the optical grades is different from those for the medical grades. The reaction of a mouse cage grade of PC with cleaning solvent is going to be different than the reaction of a food-grade PC and water. And yes, water is a solvent, but very weak when compared to a cleaning agent.
So what’s the long term effect? Beats me. Between working in labs, a refinery, and plastic molding plants, I’m probably screwed already. I’m more worried about water and blood-borne pathogens than being killed by my Nalgene bottle.
Please recycle!
Stalking Tortoise