Nalgene Bottle Company Sued Over Toxic Chemical; Mom Claims Company Knew of Health Risks

Thursday, September 25, 2008 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: Nalgene, health news, Natural News

(NaturalNews) A California woman has filed a federal class action lawsuit against the makers of the popular Nalgene reusable water bottles, claiming that the company knew that exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) from the bottles might cause health problems.

The lawsuit, believed to be the first consumer class action lawsuit over the chemical, came after Nalge Nunc International Corp, a division of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and maker of Nalgene water bottles, announced that it would recall from stores all bottles made with BPA. The company further said it would stop using BPA in any of its bottles within the next few months.

The Nalgene announcement followed a finding by the National Toxicology Program that BPA exposure can cause cancer, as well as behavioral, developmental and reproductive problems. In the same week, Canada banned the use of the substance in baby bottles.

The suit alleges that Nalge Nunc knew of the chemical's risks but continued to publicly insist that it was safe.

"They address the issue of BPA in their bottles [on their Web site]; they cite the [FDA] stating that they see no problem with it. The problem is they didn't cite the many other studies that show there is a risk and there is a great concern about the issue," said Harold Hewell, an attorney for plaintiff Lani Felix-Lozano.

Felix-Lozano said that she bought Nalgene bottles for herself and her daughters for many years, thus exposing the three of them to dangerous chemicals.

BPA is a commonly used industrial chemical. One of its primary functions is to make plastic hard and transparent, hence its popularity as an ingredient in water and baby bottles. It is also used in dental sealants and as a lining for food cans.

The chemical mimics the hormone estrogen in the body, and has been observed to induce cancer, early puberty, behavioral and immune system changes, and even to rewrite the genetic programming of laboratory animals exposed in the womb.

In the United States, BPA is found in the urine of 95 percent of people tested.

Sources for this story include: www.reuters.com.