Sigg Under Fire for Containing BPA

John Del Signore and his precious Radiohead Sigg bottle

[UPDATE BELOW] With bills to ban bottled water and New Yorkers urged to drink what's flowing from the tap, there's a good chance many of you have Sigg bottles. If only for the fact that Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood do. Well, bad news: Sigg has acknowledged the resin in bottles made before August 2008 have “trace amounts’’ of BPA (bisphenol A), prompting the Boston Globe to ask, "Et Tu, Sigg?" Not only is the controversial chemical the same one that brought Nalgene sales down, but the company has allegedly known of its presence in their bottles since 2006.

Salon points out that "BPA can leach into liquids and may pose health risks. BPA is classified as an endocrine disruptor and in scientific studies, even small amounts of BPA have been shown to seriously impair the hormone, brain and reproductive function of some animals." While many feel misled by the company, the CEO said (in his apology, which also offers an exchange) that the bottles were never marketed as "BPA Free." Author Nena Baker accused Sigg of "greenwashing," saying they "rode a wave of growing concerns about BPA, selling lot after lot of its products to people who believed they were reducing the risk of exposure to BPA by switching from reusable polycarbonate plastic drinking bottles."

Our very own John Del Signore has been drinking from a Sigg bottle every day for a year now, and as you can see from this photograph he's blissfully unaware of the damage it's doing. We've sent off an email to W.A.S.T.E., who still has the very same bottle for sale online. Reached for comment, Del Siggnore declared, "They'll have to pry my Radiohead Sigg bottle from my cold, dead hands."

UPDATE: A representative from Radiohead's merchandise company, W.A.S.T.E. sent us this: "Thank you for your email - we have been made aware that these bottles have been tested and do contain 0% of the BPA leach - please do worry." But according to Sigg's website, the lining of this Radiohead bottle looks exactly like the carcinogenic BPA copper lining! We're not scaremongering, this is really happening. Also, please do worry? That's you, isn't it, Thom?

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in News on September 16, 2009 2:51 PM

Comments [rss]

marck

How about BPA free and spill proof? Contigo water bottles. http://www.gocontigo.com/water-bottles.html

soho

Can be bought in France for 16,50€ : http://www.maceria.com/shop/product/SIGG-Keith-Haring-0-6-l-aluminium-transparent

Stainless or go Home

GO CHECK OUT THIS COMPANY AND PRODUCT. my-botl.com

These guys have a great product, stainless steel. Great designs as well.

Very sad what Sigg did.

my-botl.com

hashashin

OK sure, Sigg withheld information that would have impacted their sales, and you want to reduce your exposure to BPA because there's a chance it could be harmful.

But seriously folks, take a deep breath and consider yourselves lucky that you have access to clean water. Some people have real problems.

ed_Extinct

Solution-

Buy a steel bottle and you're guaranteed BPA, phthalate, and lead free.

Aluminum has to be lined. 18/8 steel (stainless steel) does not.

Sigg and Klean Kanteen both make steel bottles.

savedbyzero

I'd hit it.

NannyState

Damn, my bottle only contains vodka.

Spirit of 76

I think they need to add one more warning about BPA based on JDS's writings and his Sigg habit. "May cause uncontrolled snarkiness."

Manitoba2

If you bought one on 08/08/08, are you lucky?

babyhitler

whoa. I always thought John Del Signore was a twenty something hipster the way he wrote. Turns out he's a fourty something hipster.

brooklynbs

Headline should have been... Sigg Fail.

S.D.

Ugh, I just got one of those.

ed_Extinct

Did you travel back in time to pre August 2008?

S.D.

Sort of, it was from a discount store (TJ Maxx?)...

Luckily, it's not that old and they have a page to let you figure out which one you have.

wac0202

That's hilarious, I know JDS and didn't even know it, never knew his last name!

verbal

i have 2 of those fucking radiohead poison bottles...

whitecastlerock

omfg!!! what are we going to do now????????

JacqueMehoff

bottles made prior to 08/08? that's a lot of bottles out there.

WorksInDUMBO

woohoo, JDS is pretty cute.

Nyctini11

That's what i was thinking too!! woot woo JDS ;-)

Outter Burrougher

I don't know what I thought he looked like, but that's not it :)

drewo

That would be Jonny Greenwood to you.

hotstepper

such is fad.

drinking from a glass or an American handmade ceramic vessel is best. it's not like you need your cup to be made from hardcore materials when your sitting on your fanny in the office.

Rocknrope

Yeah, all you Clever McCleversons, when you can put an open glass of water in a backpack, please do let me know. Schmucks.

chuzzlewit

REUSE THE PELLEGRINO B O T T L E

Bort

But do they make a Radiohead one?

chuzzlewit

G L A S S

pipsy

bingo, we have a winner!

Rocknrope

This pisses me off. SIGG definitely rode the "We're not Nalgene Plastic" wave when it was discovered that BPA were in those bottles. I have two bottles that I've used for the last 5 years with that old BPA liner. Farkin' great.

Dirk

I use Kleen Kanteen bottles myself. I switched a while back after Sigg kept stonewalling and not saying what was in their liner.

Sigg may not have every said they were specifically BPA-free but they certainly lied by omission by not disclosing what was in their liners for so long.