REI joins Nalgene in halting sales of plastic bottles

Jeffrey P. Mayor | McClatchy Newspapers

4/30/2008 - 5/1/08

REI has opted to remove all polycarbonate water bottles containing bisphenol A from its inventory as consumers debate whether the chemical poses a health risk.

The outdoors retailer made the decision the same day the maker of the popular Nalgene water bottle said it will remove the hard-plastic product containing the chemical from stores and replace its Nalgene Outdoor line of containers with BPA-free alternatives.

"Increasingly, we've had customer demand for BPA-free water bottles. There also has been increasing customer confusion on how to identify a water bottle made without BPA," said REI spokeswoman Megan Behrbaum.

Joe Hyer, co-owner of Alpine Experience in Oympia, cautions consumers to not overreact. "If there was something harmful in a Nalgene bottle, not only would we be pulling them off the shelves, but also recalling the millions of the ones that have already been sold," he said.

Andrea Wagner, manager of Backpackers Supply on South Tacoma Way in Tacoma, has noticed a shift in consumer preference. "We've been selling more of the aluminum bottles. In the last couple of months, we've seen sales definitely drop off on those (Nalgene) types of bottles."

Wagner has made the switch: "Everyone has Nalgene. I have eight of them at home. I'm not going to use them any more. I switched, I have an aluminum bottle. In fact, most of the staff does."

Nalge Nunc International, a division of Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., said it would take several months to get the bottles in question off the shelves.

"We continue to believe that Nalgene products containing BPA are safe for their intended use," Steven Silverman, general manager of the Nalgene business, said in a statement. "However, our customers indicated they preferred BPA-free alternatives, and we acted in response to those concerns."

Bisphenol A is found in dental sealants, baby bottles, the liners of food cans, CDs and DVDs, eyeglasses and hundreds of household goods. It is used as a liner in water bottles.

The National Toxicology Program said two weeks ago there is "some concern" about BPA from experiments on rats that linked the chemical to changes in behavior and the brain, early puberty and possibly precancerous changes in the prostate and breast. While such animal studies only provide "limited evidence" of risk, the draft report said a possible effect on humans "cannot be dismissed."

Last week, Wal-Mart Canada and other major retailers in Canada began removing BPA-based food-related products such as baby bottles and sipping cups from store shelves.

"What's important about the decision we made ... is that we felt selecting a water bottle without BPA is confusing. We're trying to make the customer's decision easier by removing all polycarbonate water bottles from our store shelves and online," said REI's Behrbaum.

Consumers can purchase alternatives made of stainless steel and aluminum as well as plastic made with Tritan, a material made by Eastman Chemical Co., which is based in Kingsport, Tenn. Camelback and Nalgene are using the material in their new lines of containers.

While Hyer said his store is stocking bottles made with alternative materials, he will continue to sell the bottles in question.

"I don't think Nalgene would ever put out a product that is unsafe. I'm going to trust those companies that they're going to give us products that are safe for our customers."

Ben Dobbin of The Bellingham Herald contributed to this story.