Hormone-mimics in plastic water bottles - just the tip of the iceberg?

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.springer-sbm.com/index.php?id=291&backPID=132&L=0&tx_tnc_news=5622&cHash=960a66017d

News

Heidelberg / New York, 26 March 2009

Hormone-mimics in plastic water bottles - just the tip of the iceberg?

Study shows drinking water contaminated with potent estrogen

Plastic packaging is not without its downsides, and if you thought mineral water was ‘clean’, it may be time to think again. According to Martin Wagner and Jörg Oehlmann from the Department of Aquatic Ecotoxicology at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, plastic mineral water bottles contaminate drinking water with estrogenic chemicals. In an analysis1 of commercially available mineral waters, the researchers found evidence of estrogenic compounds leaching out of the plastic packaging into the water. What’s more, these chemicals are potent in vivo and result in an increased development of embryos in the New Zealand mud snail. These findings, which show for the first time that substances leaching out of plastic food packaging materials act as functional estrogens, are published in Springer’s journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

Wagner and Oehlmann looked at whether the migration of substances from packaging material into foodstuffs contributes to human exposure to man-made hormones. They analyzed 20 brands of mineral water available in Germany – nine bottled in glass, nine bottled in plastic and two bottled in composite packaging (paperboard boxes coated with an inner plastic film). The researchers took water samples from the bottles and tested them for the presence of estrogenic chemicals in vitro. They then carried out a reproduction test with the New Zealand mud snail to determine the source and potency of the xenoestrogens.

They detected estrogen contamination in 60% of the samples (12 of the 20 brands) analyzed. Mineral waters in glass bottles were less estrogenic than waters in plastic bottles. Specifically, 33% of all mineral waters bottled in glass compared with 78% of waters in plastic bottles and both waters bottled in composite packaging showed significant hormonal activity.

By breeding the New Zealand mud snail in both plastic and glass water bottles, the researchers found more than double the number of embryos in plastic bottles compared with glass bottles. Taken together, these results demonstrate widespread contamination of mineral water with potent man-made estrogens that partly originate from compounds leaching out of the plastic packaging material.

The authors conclude: “We must have identified just the tip of the iceberg in that plastic packaging may be a major source of xenohormone* contamination of many other edibles. Our findings provide an insight into the potential exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals due to unexpected sources of contamination.”
*man-made substance that has a hormone-like effect

Reference
1. Wagner M & Oehlmann J (2009). Endocrine disruptors in bottled mineral water: total estrogenic burden and migration from plastic bottles. Environ Sci Pollut Res; <10.1007/s11356-009-0107-7>

The full-text article can be provided as a pdf on request or viewed free of charge at http://www.springerlink.com/content/515wg76276q18115/?p=13b47e03f3414b128d9ad2797b775973π=0

[grannie4peace]

1. holy moly, catfish!!!

[PearliePoo2]

2. Crap!

Are we to assume that this hormone is leaching into all beverages from plastic bottles?? :scared:

[Liberal In Texas]

4. It looks like it's not just bottles, but all plastic containers for food and medicine.

"...packaging may be a major source of xenohormone* contamination of many other edibles. Our findings provide an insight into the potential exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals due to unexpected sources of contamination.”

And it's not really a hormone. The xenohormone is a chemical that acts like a hormone.
As the asterisk explains: "*man-made substance that has a hormone-like effect".

[PearliePoo2]

6. Thanks Lib........Plastic that ACTS like a hormone...

Oh that's just great. Plastic lined food containers are fucking ubiquitous.
Anyone feeling sick?

[havocmom]

3. It would explain a lot, actually

With or without tin foil, one could come up some interesting theories about the possibilities.

[goclark]

5. I switched two months ago to the steel looking light weight

water bottle.

Is something wrong with those too? :scared:

I really love it because I use the "filtered" water from the frig that has to be changed when the light on the Frig turns red.

I wash it out as soon as I finish drinking the water and can easily carry it with me throughout the day.

Something is probably wrong with that too. All I know is I have save tons of money by not using the water bottles and I can't taste the difference in the water. In fact, it may taste better because it stays the same temperature, nicely chilled.
:scared:

I live in California so our water is suppose to be horrible -- who knows.

[Holly_Hobby]

7. The only safe container is glass

I have/use no plastic. If I can't find it in glass, I do without. I even have glass pots and pans, made many years ago by Corning. Glass is easier to clean too.

I discovered how dangerous plastic is when a plastic water bowl permanently removed the pigment from my dog's nose.

[tinrobot]

9. Stainless steel is also safe.

[OKIsItJustMe]

11. Stainless steel leaches nickel

If you know any women who must wear gold or silver "posts" it is because they are allergic to the nickel in "stainless steel" posts.

Nickel allergies are much more common than most people realize.

[mzmolly]

15. Interesting. We have some stainless water bottles, but they're coated with a clear

porcelain inside.

[radfringe]

8. waiting for the NOPer meme...

WHAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... look at this - "they" are wasting money on New Zealand mud snail ...

.........

doesn't matter where the money came from - the NOPers will lie about it anyways

[ensho]

10. this is a HUGE problem for the human race

true, this report is just the tip of the horror

[azul]

12. I feel just like a little girl.

Not only are we getting dumbed-down by badbadcow and mercury and lead, we are getting the non-aggressive treatments too.

The secrets of commercial toxicity may be slipping out around the world but here in the USA we will probably be authoritatively told to ignore it, cause it's good for business, and corrupt crooks that might have reason to fear enlightened enraged mobs.

[NightWatcher]

13. I ditched my Camelbak bottles for Kleen Kanteen two months ago

now how long before the stainless steel bottles are bad for me? Or am I getting funky stuff from the Brita Pitcher Filter (it is plastic) leaking into my tap water.

[mzmolly]

14. Baby bottles, plastic wrap and so on...

may contain the same properties.

I couldn't get the link to work?