Eastman Chemical Company gets a double “false and deceptive” award.
The first is for claiming that its Tritan plastic material is free of estrogenic activity.
The second is for claiming that the dubious and discredited scientific study that supposedly backs their claims was done by a credible, independent lab.
The False and Deceptive Statement
Numerous properly conducted scientific studies (cited below) show this is false because the real truth about Tritan is that it leaches EA.:
Eastman Advertisement on Google Search
Published, Peer-Reviewed Studies of Tritan Show Estrogenic Activity
Properly conducted, published studies by labs that are actually independent, agree that Tritan leaches chemicals that create estrogenic activity. Among those recent studies are:
- Migration of plasticisers from Tritan ™ and polycarbonate bottles and toxicological evaluation
- Estrogenic chemicals often leach from BPA-free plastic products that are replacements for BPA-containing polycarbonate products
- Chemicals having estrogenic activity can be released from some bisphenol A-free, hard and clear, thermoplastic resins
- UPDATE 090724: This search at Google Scholar shows scores and scores of articles updating the older links.
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Eastman web site statements also incorrect
In addition to its advertisement, the statement on the Eastman website that boasts, “Eastman Tritan copolyester is free of estrogenic and androgenic activity” is also false.
Why is Estrogenic Action (EA) Significant?
The term “estrogenic” refers to hormone disrupting chemicals like BPA and other chemicals from plastics, pesticides and other sources that can affect the health of both men and women in ways that are similar to estrogen. Many hormone disruptors exhibit estrogenic action. (Why Is “Estrogenic Action” Important?)
The Endocrine Society (www.endo-society.org) — the world’s oldest and largest organization for doctors and medical researchers who study hormones – has issued a massive study (Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement) calling hormone disruptors a “significant concern to public health.”
Eastman’s Misleading “Science”
To back up its “No EA” sales claims, Eastman cites a single study which is ripe with conflicts of interest, poorly conducted science and ethical violation The Feb. 17, 2011 study, published in the journal, Food and Chemical Toxicology, entitled, “Lack of androgenicity and estrogenicity of the three monomers used in Eastman’s Tritan copolyesters“, by Thomas G. Osimitz and several other authors”
That study — designed, paid-for, overseen and funded by Eastman (with money laundered through two trade associations) — tested only three of the many compounds in Tritan. The study was carefully limited to those three components because the chemical company knew in advance that testing any of the 27 variants of the finished Tritan plastic could reveal estrogenic action.
This article shows how the Eastman statements and ads, above, are carefully nuanced and reply only to specific Tritan components — copolyesters — and not the completed plastic which includes a variety of resins that produce the estrogenic action.
For in-depth coverage on flawed and unethical studies, see:
- Scientific Fraud: Laundering Money & People
- Private Science For Hire: Poster Children For Un-trustworthy Science
- Science Funding: Sponsors Get The Results They Pay For
- Private Science For Hire: Poster Children For Un-trustworthy Science
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