01 May Good Idea To Wash Your Water Bottles in Dishwasher Before Using

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Hong-Sheng Wang

Hong-Sheng Wang PhD
Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology
University of Cincinnati
College of Medicine, Cincinnati

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What is the significance of tritan?

Response: Bisphenol A (BPA) is used widely in the manufacturing of consumer plastic goods. Researchers and the general public increasingly recognize the potentially harmful effect of BPA. These days BPA-based polycarbonate plastic water bottles have all but disappeared in most US stores, replaced by various BPA-free bottles including Tritan bottles.

Tritan is a plastic that is not based on BPA or BPA analogues. In earlier studies, we unexpectedly found transient release of BPA from some Tritan bottles. Similar results have been reported in a past study. We wanted to figure out why the BPA release from Tritan bottles, and how consumers can best clean their bottles.

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?

Response: Of the 10 different kinds of Tritan water bottles we tested, 2 were found to have transient BPA release. Such release is likely due to surface contamination, possibly during the manufacturing process. The leached BPA was found to be bioactive (that is, eliciting biological responses similar to those by BPA). Among the common washing methods used by consumers (eg, rinsing, soap and water washing, and dishwashing), dishwashing was found to be most effective in removing BPA release in the bottle that we tested.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: While most Tritan water bottles are indeed BPA free, some may have BPA contamination. If you are concerned about such contamination, washing the bottles thoroughly before first use is a good idea. (Before washing your bottles in a dishwasher, you should check whether the bottles are dishwasher safe and follow manufacturer’s instruction.)

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Response: As case study, we hope our results can be informative for general consumer practice and better manufacturer quality control.

Disclosures: Our study was supported by grants from the NIH. we don’t have anything to disclose.

Citation:

Rebecca Holmes, Jianyong Ma, Syam S. Andra, Hong-Sheng Wang,
Effect of common consumer washing methods on bisphenol A release in tritan drinking bottles,
Chemosphere, Volume 277, 2021,130355,
ISSN 0045-6535,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130355.

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Last Updated on May 1, 2021 by Marie Benz MD FAAD