Tritan copolyester

Toxicology & Health controversy

In 2011, a neurobiologist at the University of Texas at Austin, George Bittner, published an article claiming that most polymers, including Tritan, contained other materials with estrogenic activity. Bittner published the article eleven years after he founded the company PlastiPure to develop safer plastics.

After these claims were repeated by Bittner's company PlastiPure, Tritan's inventor, the Eastman Chemical Company, sued PlastiPure. A jury ruled in Eastman's favor, and the Court barred PlastiPure from making claims about Tritan's estrogenic activity. In expert testimony, Wade Welshon of the University of Missouri-Columbia, agreed that the Tritan copolymer is likely not estrogenic, but that the estrogenic activity he found in five separate tests of Tritan products could be attributable to other chemicals added during manufacturing.

During the trial it emerged that Thomas Osimitz, an author of another journal article, the one that had initially cleared Tritan of estrogenic activity, was paid $10,000 by the company for the paper, and that this was not disclosed in the Conflict of Interests section. When Osimitz was questioned by Reuters he stated that the disclosure forms were "very confusing." Bittner maintains that his assays are more sensitive than the ones performed by Osimitz et al.

Since then, other work has shown that like other polymers, certain additives or impurities present in Tritan can migrate from the plastic into water held in a container made of the material. Among these are 2-phenoxyethanol (CAS ), dimethyl isophtalate (CAS ), 4-nonylphenol (CAS ), bisphenol A (CAS ) and butyl benzyl pthalate (CAS ). However, these were found in concentrations well below levels permissible by European Union regulations.

Similar products

KwarxOther manufacturers have developed similar products including the French Arc Holdings's Kwarx since 2006, the German (Leonardo) Teqton since 2009 and the South-Korean SK Chemicals' Ecozen, a glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG) since 2010/2011. Other manufacturers propose polypropylene (PP) or methylstyrene (MS) as alternatives to Tritan.

Name confusion{{anchor|Zwiesel}}

Main article: Tritan (glass)

Tritan can also refer to a type of so called unbreakable glass originally developed by the German Zwiesel Kristallglas in 2002 together with University of Erlangen–Nuremberg. Its name is derived from titanoxide (titanium oxide in English). In 2012, the Zwiesel Kristallglas company introduced Tritan Protect. Confusingly, although both are unrelated, Zwiesel Tritan glass and Eastman Tritan copolyester are both advertised as "shatter protected" and are used in the production of drinking glasses as replacements for traditional glasses, despite their different material properties.

References

References

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5. (2024-08-21). "Technical Data Sheet: Eastman Tritan™ Copolyester TX1001".
6. (2008-04-18). "Nalgene to Phase Out Production of Consumer Bottles Containing BPA". Reuters.
7. "Nalgene Choice".
8. (2011). "Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemicals: A Potential Health Problem That Can be Solved". Environmental Health Perspectives.
9. "Company Overview". PlastiPure.
10. (2012-06-01). "Lack of androgenicity and estrogenicity of the three monomers used in Eastman's Tritan™ copolyesters". Food and Chemical Toxicology.
11. Begley, Sharon. (19 July 2013). "Science for hire - Trial over plastic exposes disclosure deficit". Reuters.
12. (2013). "Migration of plasticisers from Tritan and polycarbonate bottles and toxicological evaluation". Elsevier.
13. Carter, Felicity. (2006-05-23). "'Unbreakable' glass launched".
14. "twenty4 - erste Glasserie von LEONARDO aus dem Glasmaterial TEQTON® - Pressemeldung vom 17.08.2009".
15. https://www.ferroplast.com/pdf/Ecozen_Brochure.pdf
16. "Polypropylen statt Tritan".
17. [https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/register/302479139/DE register.dpma.de] Brand Tritan
18. "Wohnen mit Glas". Handelszeitung.
19. Handelsblatt Unternehmensportrait "Schott Zwiesel – Das Kristallglas", 2012-12-18. https://www.handelsblatt.com/marken-des-jahrhunderts/unternehmensportraet-schott-zwiesel-das-kristallglas/7536832.html
20. (2020-09-29). "TRITAN Kristallglas - Zwiesel Kristallglas AG".
21. Zwiesel Kristallglas AG (ed): ''Zwiesel Kristallglas AG. Perfektion und Leidenschaft.'' Print-Consult, München 2005. pp. 31, 49.