As we carry around the aftermath of Dartmouth's Alcohol Screening Day and its attendant social norm-displaying Nalgenes, I am forced to report some sad news. The May 9 Collis Common Ground may or may not have impacted your individual drinking habits -- I'm guessing it didn't -- but it did expose you to a new, cancer-causing risk: those very same collective judgment-quoting Nalgene bottles.
Our No. 7 polycarbonate plastic bottles are not just lightweight, almost unbreakable and color-coordinated; they're also carcinogenic. Studies over the last few years have found that their plastic type leaches the chemical bisphenol-A into water. With effects such as endocrine disruption, impairment of prostate and breast tissue development, and increased chromosomal defects, the idea of killer plastic seems a little bit more valid. Granted, these effects have only been observed in rodents to date, but so it goes for most other initial scientific testing.
In further devastating news for sustainable diners, the chemical leaching increases as the plastic degrades over time and intensive use. So your special, sticker-plastered, scratched-to-the-point-of-opacity Nalgene is even more dangerous for all of your loving use.
But do any of us really care? I most certainly am not going to cast away my water bottle and begin carrying around a giant ceramic mug, because it has sentimental value. My second favorite and oldest one was confiscated in Spain by a security guard, bringing tears and serious negotiation attempts.
Maybe I'm the only one with Nalgene separation anxiety. But since the warnings first appeared over two years ago and there hasn't been a mass recall or consumer recoil, I feel reasonably safe. There are other, scarier carcinogens out there for me to (not) worry about, like radiation from cell phones or the fake sugar in Diet Coke.
So I wouldn't trash my bottle just yet: There is less-than-overwhelming evidence that No. 7 polycarbonate is going to give you cancer at anything resembling the rate that tobacco does. I know I'll be drinking aspartame-flavored beverages out of mine while sitting in the sun under a cell phone tower for some time to come. And I won't even wear SPF 15.
