SIGG Bottles Had BPA All Along
SIGG bottles, long upheld as the standard by which all non-plastic drink bottles should be compared, favourite of hippies and eco-gurus, juggernaut and arguably the biggest player in the metal bottle industry, has finally fessed up.
Their “water-based epoxy liner”, long rumoured (but never confirmed) to contain BPA, indeed had BPA all along.
SIGG kept this cozy little secret by constantly releasing reassuring statements that their proprietary formula had been extensively tested and was never found to leach BPA.
The subtle truth hidden in their messages was that they never said there was no BPA in there to begin with. But now, one entire year after changing their liner to a new “EcoCare”, BPA-free formula, they are now admitting what so many have suspected all along.
- » See also: What Is the Matter with Us? Lead and Other Toxins into the Mouths of Babes
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Did they lie to us? Not as such, not precisely. Did they deliberately deceive us? I say most certainly so. How many thousands of consumers bought SIGG bottles specifically in response to the BPA scare? How many would have bought them if we had been told “yes our bottles have BPA but it doesn’t leach?” There is no doubt in my mind that SIGG was working entirely on a model of protecting their own bottom line, not protecting our health or public confidence.
The fact that there has never been any test that showed BPA leaching from SIGG bottles means that those of us who have used them extensively, even with our children — I was an “early adopter” of metal bottles and favoured SIGGs over other brands almost exclusively — don’t have to panic that we’ve had dangerous exposures.
But we are left with shattered faith in a company we thought we could trust, that we could look up to as a beacon of eco-friendly and healthy product designs in a marketplace infested with dangerous, toxic, profit-driven crap.
Once again, in our attempts to live eco-friendly lives, it seems we can’t win and are betrayed by corporate interests. All aluminum bottles must have some sort of protective lining, and non-SIGG cheaper knockoffs have been shown to leach BPA. Perhaps the best solution is to stick to non-aluminum, stainless steel options such as Kleen Kanteen. Which are, of course, Made in China.
Photo Credit: EthanPDX via Creative Commons
I noticed that Sigg is using the exposure of their duplicity to cast doubt on all Chinese-produced bottles in general, and other aluminum bottles in particular. Obviously their marketeers are looking at ways to spin what they have done to their advantage . . . amazing but true.
Sigg makes stainless bottles in China too, though they are avoiding any mention of that right now. Their “Swiss” bottles, like beer cans, are made on largely automated machines. Sigg having a handful of people monitoring such a process and driving forklifts merely makes people feel better, and lets Sigg use the Swiss flag. Most stainless bottles are made by hand, which you could look at as hard work, or craftsmanship and a real job for a lot of people.
After researching this a lot they didn’t know it had BPA. They don’t make the liner they test it and all along it didn’t show any. Newer better tests showed a small amount (still tests as non-leaching).
If you are worried about it e-mail the CEO (e-mail is found on the Sigg website) and he will help you out. He got back to me in less than 12 hours and sent me to customer service which offered to get me the eco-liner ones to replace my old bottles.
I was pissed at first as well but after research, talking to others outside of Sigg, and then the CEO I believe they are doing a great job and I will keep using my Sigg bottles.
Hi,
What about (Laken) you and Treehugger are steam rolling over Sigg. Like the person above wrote I called Sigg months ago. The told me they could not mention what’s in the liner but there’s no leeching of BPA. When they said that I had a funny feeling but they offered to email me the testing results. I feel safe using my bottle with water. I heard nothing from Laken about the BPA bottle unlike Sigg that is doing something about it. If you call the 1800 they tell you to send an email about your concerns.Also you can send your bottle back and get a new one. For myself I ok with the 3 I bought a year ago. I do feel sorry for those working that number! The public can be nasty. Also Why are’t we saying something about the can goods with BPA that people consume eveyday? I think Eden is the only can goods without BPA.
[...] plastic water bottles, has just confessed something that has sent huge ripples through the media - all of their bottles manufactured before August of last year actually DO contain BPA - according to a press statement made by Sigg CEO Steve Wasik. In case you aren’t familiar [...]
Heather, thanks for this excellent post. I just reported about it over at Non-Toxic Kids as well. I am so disappointed in Sigg.
http://www.non-toxickids.net/2009/08/sigg-waterbottles-contain-bpa-partial.html
Katy, your article is awesome. Much better than my little rant!
Heather: thank you so much for posting this. I also was suspicious of SIGG- such a large corporation and I have to admit that I distrust the bigger companies… I also did not appreciate their secrecy, regardless of whether they “knew” it had BPA or not…
however, SIGG’s entire premise (like you said) was to provide BPA-free drinking bottles that were safe for us. If they spent so much time testing the lining, and now finally admit that it did in fact contact BPA, then logically they had the means to test their liners for their content prior to now.
I’m sorry if I don’t trust my health to a company who says: “We can’t tell you about what’s in the lining, but trust us they are safe!” Further, what kind of company whose entire reputation depends on their healthy alternative, wouldn’t test their liners in the first place?
I stopped allowing my daughter to use this almost as soon as I bought it because of the duplicity in the statements. They would not admit it for industry protected reasons. That is a lie. That one admission would not compromise a patented formula.
They also lied in another way. Their studies show that there is a 0.0% leach of BPA in their water bottles, however studies show endocrine damage with leaching percent as low as 0.02%. So… it all comes down the the ruler and who’s version we are using. That is just one more reason to turn to non-aluminum bottles.
We’ve slowly been moving over to Kleen Kanteen because Sigg wouldn’t say whether they’re SIggs contained BPA but we’ve still got a few Siggs lurking around the house. Bye bye Siggs.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention! I am so bummed. We have used and promoted SIGG bottles for years as the ultimate and safest bottle on the market. I have written to the CEO asking if I can exchange my 7 old bottles for new, safer models with the EcoCare lining.
Thank you for this important information!!!! Be well, Carla aka OneHealthyGirl.com