About Bisphenol A (BPA)

In 2004 Klean Kanteen created the first BPA-free metal bottle for personal hydration to give consumers a safe, reusable alternative to the polycarbonate and lined aluminum bottles on the market. We use high quality, food-grade stainless steel because it's time-tested and is superior in strength, durability and safety to aluminum or plastic.

Since we founded Klean Kanteen, the health risks of BPA exposure have become an issue of concern to the general public as well as state and federal regulatory agencies. We created this page to help you keep up with the breaking news and also to give you resources to help you limit your exposure to this dangerous chemical and protect yourself and your family. We care about more than just the bottom line, and that's why a Klean Kanteen® is more than just a bottle.

2012

July 2012

• "Plastics Chemical Linked to Obesity in Kids"
  (Yahoo! Health)

June 2012

• "More Americans Drinking BPA in Canned Beer, Thanks to Economy and Pabst Drinking Hipsters"
  (Treehugger)

March 2012

• "Cans Not Cancer Campaign"
  (Breast Cancer Fund)
• "An Update on BPA Science"
  (NRDC)

2011

November 2011

• "BPA Lurks in Canned Soups and Drinks"
  (NY Times)

October 2011

• "Multnomah County Bans BPA"
  (OPB News)

September 2011

• "How Lobbyists Are Spinning Weak Science to Defend BPA"
  (The Atlantic)

August 2011

• "How to Get Away from BPA"
  (Huffington Post)
• "BPA ban passed California state Senate"
  (Los Angeles Times)
• "Report: BPA in Kids' Canned Food"
  (Breast Cancer Fund)

July 2011

• "Metal Water Bottles May Leach BPA"
  (ScienceNews)

June 2011

• "Is Chemical in Plastic Robbing Men of Sex Appeal?"
  (ABC News)

May 2011

• "BPA-Free No Guarantee"
  (eMagazine)
• "Taco Bell, Other Fast Food Chains Ditch BPA Laced Paper Receipts"
  (Triple Pundit)
• "Kroger Joins Effort to Block Use of BPA"
  (Columbus Dispatch)
• "A Fresh Food Diet Rapidly Reduces Bisphenol-A Content of Your Body"
  (Treehugger)

March 2011

• "6 Steps to Avoiding BPA in Your Daily Life"
  (Fast Company)
• "Packaged food raises levels of bisphenol A"
  (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Maine plans to ban BPA.
  • "BPA Ban Endorsed by Legislative Committee"
    (Bangor Daily News)
• Iowa votes to ban BPA in baby and toddler food and beverage containers.
  • "Ban on Chemical in Certain Baby Products Approved by Iowa Senate"
    (Des Moines Register)
• "China Bans BPA, Leaving U.S. Behind Again"
  (NRDC Switchboard)

February 2011

• "BPA Plastic Bottles: Are They Safe?"
  (Huffington Post)

January 2011

• "Canned Chemicals"
  (eMagazine)

2010

November 2010

• "Cities Ban Plastic Water Bottles, Plastic Bags, BPA, And More"
  (Huffington Post)

October 2010

• "Canada Declares BPA, a Chemical in Plastics, to Be Toxic"
  (New York Times)

June 2010

• "Feinstein's Call for BPA Ban Bill Riles Lobbies"
  (San Francisco Chronicle)
• California votes to ban BPA in baby and toddler food and beverage containers.
  • "California State Assembly Passes BPA Bill"
    (Environmental Working Group)
• Klean Kanteen writes an OpEd article to help support passing of California's SB-797, the Toxics-Free Babies & Toddlers Act
  • "BPA: Even low-level exposure is extremely hazardous"
    (Capitol Weekly)
• "France Bans Baby Bottles Containing Bisphenol A" (Red Orbit)
• "Germany Recommends Limiting BPA"
  (Food Safety News)

May 2010

• Vermont signs a ban on BPA in baby and sports bottles into law.
  • "Douglas signs law curbing use of controversial chemical BPA"
• "The Plastic Panic"
  (The New Yorker)
• "BPA Levels in Canned Soups are Five Times Higher Than Previously Thought"
  (Fast Company)
• "No Silver Lining: An Investigation into Bisphenol A in Canned Foods"
  (Full Report from the National Workgroup for Safe Markets)

April 2010

• "Rockland (New York) Bans BPA to Protect Children"
• Maryland's Governor signs a ban on BPA in baby bottles into law.
  • "O'Malley signs 170 bills into law"

March 2010

• Canada bans the advertisement, sale and importation of polycarbonate baby bottles containing BPA making it the first country to fully enforce BPA restrictions.
  • Order Amending Schedule I to the Hazardous Products Act (bisphenol A)
• The Washington State House votes 96-1 to ban BPA from baby bottles, sippy cups and other food and beverage containers used by children under the age of three.
  • "Safe Baby Bottle Bill Passes House"
  • "[Washington] Senate votes ban on BPA in kids' containers"
    (Seattle Times)
• The Environmental Protection Agency announces plans to add BPA to its list of chemicals of concern because of potential adverse impacts on the environment and human and animal health.
  • "New EPA scrutiny Is Set For Chemical In Plastics"
    (New York Times)
  • "EPA Launching Major Investigation Into BPA"
    (Huffington Post)
  • "EPA to investigate Environmental Impact of BPA"
    (The Associated Press)

February 2010

• The California EPA announces it plans to list BPA as a reproductive toxin under the state's toxics law, Proposition 65. The first attempt to do so, in 2009 failed to pass.
  • "California moves toward listing BPA as reproductive toxin"
    (Packaging Digest)
  • "BPA Listing Dies in California"
    (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• The Maryland Senate approves a bill to ban BPA from baby bottles and sippy cups
  • "Limit on BPA in Maryland advances"
    (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• The Wisconsin Assembly votes overwhelmingly to pass a measure banning the sale and manufacture of BPA in baby bottles and cups for children age 3 and younger.
  • "[Wisconsin] Assembly backs limits on BPA in baby bottles"
    (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• Oregon lawmakers to vote on a bill banning BPA
  • "Banning BPA"
    (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

January 2010

• "Two States Prepare to Regulate BPA"
  (Plastic News)
• "Heightened Concern Over BPA"
  (The New York Times)
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reverses its position on BPA safety, saying it is concerned about the chemical's effects on fetuses, infants and children, and announces plans for additional study and regulation of the chemical.
  • "FDA does about-face on exposure to BPA"
    (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

2009

Milestones 2009

• In 2009 Minnesota, Connecticut, the City of Chicago and Suffolk County in New York enact bans on BPA.
• U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduces the "Ban Poisonous Additives (BPA) Act of 2009" to the U.S. Senate.

December 2009

• The EPA is heavily criticized when it does not include BPA on its list identifying four chemicals that would face stricter labeling and reporting requirements.
  • "Regulator Waffles on Bisphenol A"
    (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration faces criticism when it misses its third self imposed deadline to publicly rule on the safety of BPA.
  • "FDA To Miss Third Deadline on BPA Ruling"
    (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• The American Chemistry Council meets with Obama to lobby for BPA.
  • Meeting Minutes from the White House Office of Management and Budget
• Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program suggests avoiding BPA wherever possible.
  • "It's best to avoid BPA, federal official says"
    (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

November 2009

• Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, releases a study that shows BPA in a wide range of canned goods.
  • "Consumer group finds elevated BPA levels in range of foods"
    (Los Angeles Times)

September 2009

• The Journal of American Medicine releases the first large, population-based study examining the effects of BPA in our everyday lives; and finds that Americans with elevated levels of BPA have higher rates of heart disease and diabetes.
  • Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration With Medical Disorders and Laboratory Abnormalities in Adults
• Two studies are released that show links between exposure to BPA and various diseases, one from the Journal of American Medicine and the other from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
  • "Science Update on Bisphenol A (BPA)"
    (The Huffington Post)

August 2009

• BPA Industry Fights Back with Tobacco Industry Tactics"
  (Treehugger)
• Investigative journalists discover that one of the scientists researching BPA, toxicologist Calvin Willhite, was funded in part by the American Chemistry Council.
  • "Toxicologist did BPA safety review as paid consultant"
    (The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• Klean Kanteen® owners Michelle Kalberer and Jeff Cresswell write a series of letters (PDF) to the California State Assembly Committees to express support for SB 797, a proposed law that would prohibit the manufacture, sale or distribution of food and beverage containers containing BPA or lined with any material that contains BPA at a level greater than .1 parts per billion. The law would also prohibit the sale of infant formula in any can, bottle or other packaging containing BPA.
• Bottle maker SIGG admits the lining inside their aluminum bottles contains BPA.
  • "Sigg tries damage control on BPA issue"
    (Plastic News)
  • Can SIGG Salvage Its Name Post-BPA?"
    (Environmental Working Group)
  • SIGG Update: Did We Get It Right?"
    (Treehugger)
  • "SIGG: It's Not Easy Not Being Green"
    (Huffington Post)
  • "Anger Uncorked"
    (Reprinted from the Associated Press by the ABC News)
• Environmental Working Group writes a public letter to SIGG demanding an apology for misleading consumers and retailers about whether SIGG bottles contain the toxic chemical Bisphenol A (BPA).
  • "SIGG Should Apologize, Offer Refunds to Consumers"
    (Huffington Post)

June 2009

• "California is New Front Line of BPA Fight" (Grist)

May 2009

• "Bisphenol A: Opinion Shifting Against Chemical"
  (Columbus Dispatch)
• "BPA Leaching into Liquids in Plastic Bottles"
  (Health News)

March 2009

• Sunoco, the large American petroleum and petrochemical manufacturer, announces it will no longer sell BPA without guarantees it will not be used to manufacture baby bottles.
  • "Sunoco Cuts Sale of BPA"
    (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• Chicago lawmakers vote to ban the sale of baby bottles and sippy cups containing the chemical BPA.
  • "Chicago Becomes First Major City To Ban BPA Baby Bottles, Sippy Cups"
    (Huffington Post)

2008

December 2008

• "F.D.A. To Reconsider Plastic Bottle Risk"
  (New York Times)

October 2008

• "Congress questions FDA objectivity on BPA plastic safety"
  (USA Today)
• "Health Canada adds bisphenol A to list of toxic substances"
  (Environmental Defence)

September 2008

• "Chemical in Plastic Is Connected to Health Problems in Monkeys"
  (The Washington Post)
• "BPA study: Plastic chemical is unhealthy for children and other living things"
  (Scientific American)
• Researchers and environmental groups attack the FDA during a public hearing for concluding that BPA is safe for humans, saying the agency ignored critical studies showing potential ill health effects.
  • "FDA Criticized Over Plastic Chemical"
    (WebMD)
• Study from the National Toxicology Program about BPA.
  • "NTP-CERHR Monograph on the Potential Human Reproductive and Developmental Effects of Bisphenol A" (CERHR)
  • Sept. 2008 Study on BPA
    (Journal of American Medical Association)
  • "FDA Defends Plastic Linked To Health Risks"
    (NPR Morning Edition)

August 2008

• "Just How Harmful Are Bisphenol-A Plastics?"
  (Scientific American)

April 2008

• Canada announces its intent to ban the import, sale and advertisement of baby bottles containing BPA. A number of high profile manufacturers and retailers, including Wal-Mart, Nalgene, and Toys-R-Us, followed suit.
• The National Toxicology Report on BPA
  

March 2008

• "Freshen Up Your Drink"
  (Time Magazine)

Feb 2008

• "Plastic (Not) Fantastic: Food Containers Leach a Potentially Harmful Chemical"
  (Scientific American)

2007

August 2007

• Following two expert panel meetings, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) provided descriptions and conclusions of the BPA evaluation and recommendations for future studies. Through its evaluation process, the NTP concluded there is "some concern" about effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland of fetuses, infants, and children at current human exposure levels. In the following months, evidence about the adverse health effects of BPA continued to mount as scientists outside NTP-CERHR conducted new studies and reviewed hundreds of previous studies linking BPA exposure to a wide array of illness and disease, including breast cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, liver abnormalities and prostate cancer.

March 2007

• Environmental Working Group's independent lab testing finds BPA in canned goods.
  • "A Survey of Bisphenol A in U.S. Canned Foods"

2006

December 2006

• The draft report for the "evaluation of risks to human reproduction" is released, and BPA is covered by mainstream media for the first time.
  • "Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity of Bisphenol A"

November 2006

• San Francisco Bans BPA from Children's Products

2005

March 2005

• California Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, D-Oakland, introduces AB319, a bill that would ban the sale of any product containing BPA intended for use by children under the age of 3.
  • "California Legislature considers bill to ban chemical from kids' products"

2004

• The 27oz Classic Klean Kanteen is released onto the market, the first BPA-free metal bottle designed for personal hydration