Are Brita Water Pitchers Made From Safe Plastic?
We’ve been asked a lot lately about the safety of Brita pitchers. Many parents use Brita to filter and store water for mixing baby formula and juices. It makes good sense to scrutinize all food and beverage containers when trying to remove BPA from your child’s environment.
We checked with Simple Steps to find the answer. Here’s what they learned in speaking with the Brita company:
A company representative tells us that there are 2 main parts to the pitchers. The clear bottom part which holds the filtered water is made from 100% styrene acrylonitrile and the reservoir part of the pitcher (as well as the filter canister which goes inside) is made of 100% polypropylene. Therefore, it appears that Brita filter pitchers do not contain any polycarbonate plastic and are not made from the same material as Nalgene or Avent baby bottles. That’s good news for Brita users.
The Green Guide also recommends Brita pitchers as a safe option in their article, “Are Brita Containers Safe?”
UPDATE 4/2/08: In response to a comment left by one of our readers questioning the safety of styrene, we thought it would help to include the whole article by The Green Guide regarding the possibility of leaching. Also, please keep in mind that there are many different types of plastic made with styrene, such as polystyrene, which is known to leach toxins into food.
Are Brita Containers Safe?
by Carolyn Banta
A reader writes The Green Guide:
I use a 2-gallon Brita filter system. I recently discovered that the container is made of styrene methylmethacrylate copolymer. Will this type of plastic leak chemicals into my water? If so, is there an inexpensive alternative that you would recommend? I’m sure many of your readers use a Brita system and would benefit from knowing about this plastic.
Thanks, Michael Lande
The Green Guide responds:
It is true that Brita filter systems use containers made from styrene methylmethacrylate copolymer, which is a polymer (a combination of molecules) primarily used in the production of acrylic sheeting, molding powders and resin and surface coatings. According to Brita, the company manufactures containers made from styrene methylmethacrylate copolymer to avoid leaching.
Brita’s information on leaching came from the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), which performs extensive material safety tests. The NSF states that Brita pitchers have been tested for material safety while in contact with “very aggressive water” (i.e. exposure to water with low total of dissolved solids and .5 ppm of available chlorine for three successive 24-hour periods) and have found no evidence of leaching.
Rick Andrews, the technical manager of the Drinking Water Treatment Unit Certification Program at the NSF, explains that when a company is seeking NSF certification for new container/filter system, NSF requires information about the constituents of the plastic and then tests for leachates they know are associated with those ingredients. Using acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) as an example, they would look for styrene and acrylonitrile leaching into the water. We asked about styrene leaching from the methylmethacrylate copolymer, and he assured us that any polymer that includes a styrene component would be tested for styrene leaching.
For a second opinion, we also checked with the FDA. Their report on styrene methylmethacrylate also found that it may be safely used in repeat contact with foods without risk of leaching.
The bottom line is that The Green Guide sees no reason not to use Brita pitchers so long as they are the correct filter for the contaminants in your tap water.
Filed under: Bisphenol-a (BPA), Toxic Plastic Research | Tagged: Bisphenol-a Free, BPA Free, Brita Pitcher Water Filters, Simple Steps, The Green Guide
I don’t have one, but I hadn’t even thought about that plastic, but I suppose the water sits in there for a long time. I keep mine in a glass pitcher.
Yes, but styrene does apparently leach and so taking the Brita company’s word at face value may not be the best source of information. Do a search on styrene safety to see what alternative sources have to say.
Hi Jenny,
Please note that we updated our post to include the whole article on the type of styrene used in Brita pitchers in response to your comment. Hopefully that will help clear up any misconceptions about Brita pitchers.
We find The Green Guide to be a trustworthy source of well-researched information, so we haven’t taken Brita’s word for it.
Alicia
I saw Canada started in motion a ban of BPA last week. I sent a question to Brita about it and received the following written response. I am relieved because our whole family has been using Brita for many years, including regularly mixing powdered baby formula from it.
“Thank you for contacting us about Brita Pour Through System - Classic/Standard Pitcher. We always appreciate hearing from our consumers. The pitcher lids and filter housing is made of Polypropylene plastic. The reservoir and pitchers are made either from NAS (a Styrene based plastic) or SAN (Styrene Acrylonitrile). The soft-touch handles are made from an elastomer called Santoprene (not to be confused with Latex or Neoprene). Our products do not contain any bisphenol A and are all tested by the NSF (National Science Foundation) for safety and wetted contact. Unfortunately the pitcher materials are not recyclable therefore do not have a plastic number. Please contact us at any time if you have additional questions.”
Thanks so much for taking the time to post confirmation from Brita, Ryan!
Yes, Brita pitchers do not contain BPA - but their plastic filter cartridges are NOT RECYCLABLE, filling up our landfills and polluting our planet.
The Brita Company in Europe has created a take-back recycling program for their filters. But the Brita Company in North America is owned by Clorox, and they do not have such a program.
Please sign our petition at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/recycle-used-brita-water-filter-cartridges.html to urge Clorox to take responsibility for its plastic waste as is already being done in Europe.
For more info, please visit our site at http://www.takebackthefilter.org
Spread the word!
Thanks for providing this reassuring information about Brita pitchers! A clarification: the reply Ryan received from Brita identified NSF as the National Science Foundation, which is the wrong NSF in this case. It’s the nonprofit NSF International (formerly the National Sanitation Foundation) that tests water filtration equipment (www.nsf.org). Manufacturers voluntarily seek certification to verify that a product meets the standards claimed (stamped inside the lid of my Brita pitcher). It’s a good sign when a product meets NSF standards because the company chose to pay for testing and certification. Just don’t assume that the product was tested for anything other than the specific standard indicated or that a product without such certification is necessarily inferior.
Kristine Bradof
Center for Science and Environmental Outreach
Michigan Technological University
Thank you Donovan for that petition link. I have been saving all my old filters hoping to someday recycle them. Also, thank you Ryan and Kristine B for the good information.
I was directed to this post from a comment on my blog on a post about drinking tap water and Brita pitchers… This is really helpful. Actually, this whole site is great, I’ll be linking to it from my blog. Thanks!
Just today I realized I didn’t know about the safety of our Britta filter system. I am so pleased to find this information. Thank you for posting the full article.
I would love to have a way to recycle the filters, so thanks for the link. Society is becoming more conscious of these problems of waste and toxic leaching, and I believe the day is coming when companies will assume greater responsibility, just to placate consumers like us!
i have used Brita water pitchers for the past 7 years for myself and my children and wonder if they are safe from leaching any chemicals. I have read all of your questions and replies. When Brita replied to me, they told me the reservoir and pitchers are made either from NAS (a Styrene based plastic) or SAN (Styrene Acrylonitrile). Are these materials (NAS and SAN) safe from any chemical leaching? You made me feel comfortable about the safety of styrene methylmethacrylate copolymer, but what about STYRENE ACRYLONITRILE?
please help!
Thanks
[...] The plastic used for the Brita Water filters appears to be safe. If you also upgrade all of your travel and [...]