Et tu, Sigg? Falling prey to BPA

By Beth Daley, Globe Staff

Even I, an environmental reporter who should know better, fell victim to the Hello Kitty Sigg bottle.

I’ve written a lot in the last two years on the growing concern over Bisphenol A used in baby bottles, sippy cups and canned goods that can leach and be ingested. Research on laboratory animals shows that low levels of BPA might cause developmental problems in fetuses and young children.

New BPA-free Sigg bottle with dull pale yellow coating (Sigg)

I tried to reduce my family’s use of canned foods, which uses BPA to prevent corrosion. I threw out the hand-me-down scratched sippy cups my friends bequeathed to me for my three-year-old.

And I bought an aluminum Sigg bottle for my daughter. I should have known better.

Old Sigg bottles with BPA with shiny copper coating (Sigg)

In April 2008 during an online Globe chat with a BPA expert, a reader asked if the Sigg bottles were safe. Mia Davis of Clean Water Action warned readers then she didn’t know. Because aluminum has been linked to health problems, she noted, aluminum cans are sometimes coated with a BPA resin. She said she had asked Sigg but all they told her was their resin did not leach BPA.

That didn’t answer her question. She asked again. They said it was proprietary information. (click here for one parent's exchange with Sigg about the issue.)

Now we know.

Sigg came out last month and acknowledged that its resin had “trace amounts” of BPA in bottles made before August 2008. An Associated Press story notes the company knew about it since 2006. Davis says she is sure BPA is leaching from Sigg bottles – it leaches from everything else.

I don’t think I, or my daughter, are going to be harmed by those Sigg bottles. But any parent – even those who work at Sigg - would want to know if a product they were drinking from contained such a controversial chemical. I have an email and call into the company for a response which I'll post.

If you are going to bill yourself as an eco-friendly company, be eco-friendly. And that includes being straightforward. Otherwise you’ll lose customers.

And you’ve lost this one.