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It's been almost 18 months since I first learned (and blogged) about Bisphenol-A (BPA). There has been a lot of press about this chemical recently as Canada has come close to banning the chemical from a number of products, most notably baby bottles.

Shortly thereafter a number of interesting things happened.

1) Nalgene, famous for their clear lexan polycarbonate water bottles, phased out all their polycarbonate products. Nalgene is probably responsible for exposing millions of adults to BPA due to their trendy and popular water bottles. I had half a dozen of these in 2006 (all replaced by SIGG bottles).

2) Wall-Mart announced it would pull all BPA bottles from its stores

The Today Show aired a report that basically said that all plastics with the #7 on them contained BPA. This is just wrong. #7 is a catch all for all plastics not covered by codes #1 - #6. While, BPA does generally carry the label #7, so do BPA-free alternatives made from bio-plastics like Polyamide. In fact, the #7 is so confusing that Camelback has removed it from their BPA-free products.

NPR wrote about this a few weeks ago.

"I think the writing's on the wall for this chemical," said Aaron Freeman, policy director of Toronto-based Environmental Defence Canada. "You've got major retailers with huge market clout pulling BPA products ... and you've got consumers in droves who are opting for alternatives. They're a bit late to the game, but they are responding to that consumer demand."

The key word here is "consumer demand".

Nalgene cites consumer demand as the reason for pulling PBA products.

Question: Why is Nalgene transitioning from polycarbonate to other materials?
Answer: Nalgene’s principle goal is to create reusable containers for a wide range of consumers; from hikers and outdoor enthusiasts to commuters and kids on-the-go. We are always looking for new materials and products that help us meet that goal. Our decision to phase out production of the Outdoor line of polycarbonate containers is in response to consumer demand for products that do not include Bisphenol-A (BPA).

Today I was in REI with my wife and noticed that all the Polycarbonate bottles are gone. Instead they have been replaced with Bottles from Nalgene and Camelback that proudly say "BPA Free". I purchased a Camelback Better Bottle. These bottles are made from Eastman Tritan, a copolyester. Eastman developed Tritan due to consumer demand for a BPA-free plastic and announced availability on October 2007.

“CamelBak’s success comes from delivering consumers innovative products,” explains CamelBak CEO Sally McCoy, “Eastman partnered with us to create a BPA free CamelBak®  Better Bottle using its new Tritan copolyester. This ground-breaking polymer allows us to better meet the needs of our customers by giving them a BPA free choice in re-usable bottles.”

Eastman Tritan™ copolyester is also easy to process and can be used in molds designed for polycarbonate. This feature allowed CamelBak to switch materials with minimal production changes. “Eastman Tritan™ copolyester is easy to work with. Only minor tooling and temperature adjustments were required to manufacture the CamelBak® Better Bottle with this new material, which facilitated the transition for our staff,” says Mike Crook, CamelBak’s Vice President of Operations.

“With its optimal combination of durability, clarity and BPA free construction, Eastman Tritan copolyester will enable us to accelerate the growth of our CamelBak® Better Bottle business using consumer desired innovation,” comments McCoy.

What I find amazing is that capitalism is at work and the market is responding to customer demand even if BPA has not been identified as harmful to children or adults by any government agency. Got to love it.

CamelBack proudly states on their homepage that they have an arsenal of new products that are BPA-free.

Do a search for BPA on Google and you'll see advertisements from:

• REI
• BornFree Bottles
• Nalgene
• Camelback

Amazon.com even has a BPA-free product store.

So where should you be on the lookout for BPA? Here are some obvious places and products I like.

Water Bottles

Recycle any of your clear Lexan water bottles and replace with BPA alternatives like:

• Camelback BPA-free (.75L, 1L)
• Nalgene Everyday
• SIGG bottles

Baby Bottles

• Born Free (this is what my wife and I have been using for 18 months and we could not be happier)
• Green to Grow
• All Glass Bottles
• most Glass bottles are narrow body and we preferred the wide neck or wide body, Born Free does make a Glass wide neck bottle.

Sippy Cups

• Born Free
• Avent (these truly rock and are spill proof)
• SIGG

French Press

• Glass - most French Presses these days are Polycarbonate.

Food Storage

• Bodum Yohki
• Pyrex Glass

Check out Z-Recommends for lots more product related BPA info.

This time next year I would not be surprised if BPA was a thing of the past. Unfortunately there are many places where we as consumers don't have a choice yet with respect to BPA (formula can liners, canned food liners, polystyrene coffee lids).