Revealed: SIGG Liners Contain BPA
By Jenn (TinyChoices.com) | September 8, 2009
Ya’ll might have heard about this when the story broke a week or two ago, but I was travelling out of the country and would have missed it completely had it not been sent to me by two separate Tiny Choosers, Becky and Rachel (thanks ladies!)
It’s been awhile since I’ve gone on a water bottle/BPA rant here at TC, mostly because I’ve been using my stainless steel Klean Kanteen
bottles almost exclusively, which removes the hotbutton issue of BPA from this facet of my life (see here for an earlier recap of BPA if you’ve no idea what I’m going on about). It’s been nice to not have to think about whether or not those pretty SIGG bottles sitting unused and forlorn in my kitchen were leaching chemicals into my water, but at the same time it was just a big unanswered question stuck in my, and many other environmentalists, craws.
Since nearly all Sigg bottles are made from aluminum, which is by itself not a foodsafe material, the company baked an expoxy liner into the inside of each bottle to render it “safe” for use. Sigg wouldn’t reveal the composition of that liner, citing a “proprietary formula”, but declared that it didn’t leach BPA. The thing is that nearly all “foodsafe liners” used in other situations- including almost all canned goods and liquid baby food in this country- contain BPA. So it stood to reason that the Sigg liner would contain BPA. But they wouldn’t give a definitive answer, which just always struck me as very odd and suspicious, and so I set aside those bottles (I own two) and just switched to a material which is safe in and of itself (stainless steel).
But the question remained… and now it’s been answered: yes, Sigg liners contained BPA.
The company stands on these two wobbly defenses: their liners were rigourously tested and shown to never leach BPA into liquid or food, and that they changed the liner of the formula in 2008 to remove BPA from the composition. So, you know, what’s the problem, people?
My issue is this: an enormous number of people have made the switch away from disposable plastic bottles over to reusables, in part because of the unhealthy chemicals which have been proven to leach from those disposables- BPA being one of them. Sigg positioned itself at the forefront of the “healthy” bottle options and has been the go-to choice for folks who were trying to make the best choice they could. So, while they never outright lied, the information Sigg withheld was sneaky, underhanded and in no one’s best interest except their own. Their bottom line benefitted tremendously, and the public was duped.
There’s also evidence that the new “eco-liners” are of a somewhat low quality, which may start to chip and crack during normal use. Which is clearly not a good thing, either.
(Image from ZRecommends.com)
So! I’m wondering, Tiny Choosers: do you think about BPA? What do you think about BPA? Are you concerned about Sigg bottles? Are you annoyed at Sigg? What’s your reusable bottle of choice these days?
[Top photo by EthanPDX via Creative Commons]
Topics: Food, Health | 13 Comments »
13 Comments
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I’m not crazy about BPA, but I’m not running to exchange my Sigg bottle either (though I use my Klean Kanteen much more often). I think what’s important to remember here is that this is an issue of corporate suckage, not safety in this case. Independent testers have verified that the BPA doesn’t leach, so my choice will be not to add to the landfill by exchanging mine. I already did that with my Nalgene last year (well, I gave it away, but same deal about getting rid of stuff…)
I’m annoyed! I replaced my 2 Nalgenes with a Sigg last year because of BPA leaching. I do love my Sigg, BUT it was pricey and finding out about the BPA is pretty irritating. I’m usually optimistic about making small changes in my life, but this has me feeling like sometimes it’s out of our hands all along — we might do research and try to make informed, conscious choices about our health and impact on the environment, but corporations manage to thwart that all the same. I’ll get over it, but for now, I’m annoyed!
I’d definitely say that this is irritating, but I am glad that they have taken corrective action. I’m also still using my old BPA-laden Nalgene too, so what do I know?! All I keep thinking is that if I buy a new water bottle, the Nalgene just gets pitched, and it’s not doing anyone any good in the landfill, either…and I am kind of oddly attached to my bottle, as I’ve been toting the same one around since ’95. On this eco issue, I guess I just choose not to get too wound up about it.
We switched from our Nalgene bottles to the Klean Kanteen’s just so we could avoid more plastic. I did check out the Sigg’s and wasn’t too impressed that they still had a plastic liner, so we skipped them entirely.
We did recycle our Nalgene bottles (both were more than 10 years old and had totally served their function to the point of being chipped) after much thought about whether or not we should find another purpose for them. In the end, the plastic leaching won out and out they went!
I heart my Klean Kanteen- which I chose over SIGG same as you- because of their sketchy details on their ‘eco’ liner.
Also, I’ve heard from other sites that the eco-liner flakes- ack.
However, If I did have a SIGG, there is no way I’d return it- how can we trust that they are actually recycling them? there is no mention of ANY sort of recycling program on their website, and at this point TRUST is such a huge component in these big companies.
I am hoping that some day a more friendly alternative to stainless steel made in China will pop up, but for not my Klean Kanteen is fantastic. :)
I’ve been rotating between my binged and dented up old sigg, a stainless steel bottle, and a no-name aluminum bottle lately. I’m ok with all of them EXCEPT for the stainless steel bottle - because it is RUSTING! and it tastes nasty and metallic! what the heck, you know?
I have heard about a few “stainless steel” bottles rusting - mainly a few inexpensive brands. I think that’s from where the bottles are “sealed” together - I even had a person send me a photo of white goo oozing out of the side of her “stainless” bottle. Yuck!
Please - if your aluminum bottle doesn’t have a liner, understand that aluminum leaches and it’s not good for you!!!
we spent many dollars on three sigg bottles several years ago and, like you, the lining business just never sat well and i ended up getting a kleen canteen for my son, which he uses every day.
that letter on sigg’s website is very irritating. they say they never hid the info about bpa, but i know i researched their bottles before purchaing them in an attempt to avoid BPA.
grrr.
I, too, am frustrated with Sigg. I decided to carry them on my website because they were leach free. It was always my understanding they didn’t contain any BPA. It’s been very disappointing to read that they had it all along - even if it doesn’t leach.
While I still use my Sigg, I find myself using my Klean Kanteen more and my thinksport for days when I have coffee and want to switch to water. I still avoid all plastics - there’s just a part of me that wonders what the next big leaching chemical is going to be. I feel safer with metal.
Maybe this is a US publication problem but the information that Sigg bottles had a lining with BPA is well over a year old. Basically when Canada started to ask hard questions which has lead to some big changes in these kinds of plastics there was a rather extensive list of what kind of water bottles used the stuff. The biggest problem comes when you put hot water in containers with BPA, that is when the leaching happens. It is also in every can of soda pop you have or will purchase (at least for the forsee-able future). There tests have shown that those energy drinks are really bad for leaching (not to mention just really bad for you). In this case it is the caffine that promotes the leaching.
If you want to keep using the containers, cold or room temp water is all you should ever use these containers for is the recommendation from Health Canada
Yeah my buddy Steve was trying to get me to jump on the Sigg bandwagon, but their high prices (up to like 30 bucks) and shadiness with the BPA controversy were a huge turnoff. I found this one company WeDrink that sells these same stainless steel bottles and also gives tons of money to charity for each bottle.
Pretty cool concept, reminded me of TOMS
A happy update to my earlier irritated response: I had purchased my Sigg at Wegman’s (a grocery chain in the NYS area). Shortly after this stuff about the BPA lining came out, I received a letter form Wegmans informing me about the BPA along with an offer to exchange my Sigg for one with the new lining or refund my money altogether. Faith restored!
When I considered reusables, I came across Kleen Kanteen and never looked back. Sigg looks nice but Aluminum + lining= i don’t know. Stainless or glass. Period.