Concerns Raised About PET in Plastic Containers

Mineral-water bottles made with PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, a chemical used in many food and beverage containers, particularly those marked with the number 1 inside a triangle, have been found to leach an unknown estrogen-mimicking chemical. Martin Wagner & Jörg Oehlmann, “Endocrine Disruptors in Bottled Mineral Water: Total Estrogenic Burden and Migration from Plastic Bottles,” Environmental Science & Pollution Research, March 10, 2009. Research from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, is apparently the first to find consistent contamination from PET bottles, once thought to be a better alternative to plastic bottles containing bisphenol A. The researchers have been unable to identify the substance causing the hormonal activity in exposed snails, but PET evidently contains minute amounts of antimony, which does have estrogenic effects. Mollusks cultured in PET bottles apparently exhibited significantly increased reproductive output. A news source indicates that the study authors are concerned about their findings because the plastic is so widely used with foods and beverages. See Globe and Mail, March 12, 2009.