"Metal Water Bottles May Leach BPA"

"Consumers who switched from polycarbonate-plastic water bottles to metal ones in hopes of avoiding the risk that bisphenol A will leach into their beverages aren’t necessarily any better off, a new study finds. Some metal water bottles leach even more BPA -- an estrogen-mimicking pollutant -- than do ones made from the now-pariah plastic.

That BPA doesn’t come from the metal, by the way, but from an epoxy-resin lining that is based on BPA’s recipe.

That’s the bad news.

If you’re willing to spring for name-brand bottles, however, several included in the new study either did not contain a resin liner or did not contain one that leached BPA. These data suggest such products would be a better bet for individuals who are especially risk averse. But BPA leaching by even the worst performing water bottles was low, observes toxicologist Scott Belcher of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, an author of the new study."

Janet Raloff reports for Science News July 11, 2011.