Tritan, a copolymer offered by the Eastman Chemical Company since 2007, is a transparent plastic intended to replace polycarbonate, because of health concerns about Bisphenol A (BPA).[1][2] Tritan is a copolymer made from three monomers: dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM), and 2,2,4,4-Tetramethyl-1,3-cyclobutanediol (CBDO).[3] Tritan (PCTG) is made without using any bisphenols or phthalates.
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Eastman Tritan cannot be used for hot beverages (like hot water, coffee or tea) and is recommended only for usage temperatures below 60 °C, as it starts to deteriorate at temperatures above 80 °C.[4][5]
In April 2008, Nalgene announced it would phase out production of its outdoor line of polycarbonate containers containing the chemical bisphenol A.[6] Nalgene now uses Tritan as a replacement for polycarbonate, as it does not contain BPA.[7]
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.[8]
After these claims were published by PlastiPure, an Eastman Chemical Company competitor, Eastman sued. A jury ruled in their favor, and the Court barred PlastiPure from making claims about triton's estrogenic activity.[1] 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.[1]
During the trial emerged that Thomas Osimitz an author of the journal article[9] that 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.[10] When Osimitz was questioned by Reuters he stated that the disclosure forms were "very confusing."[10] Bittner maintains that his assays are more sensitive that the ones performed Osimitz et al.[1]
Similar products
Other manufacturers have developed similar products including the French Arc Holdings's Kwarx since 2006,[11] the German Glaskoch (Leonardo) Teqton since 2009[12] and the South-Korean SK Chemicals' Ecozen, a glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG) since 2010/2011.[13] Other manufacturers propose polypropylene (PP)[14] or methylstyrene (MS) as alternatives to Tritan.
Name confusion
Tritan[15] 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.[16][17] Its name is derived from titanoxide (titanium oxide in English). In 2012, the Zwiesel Kristallglas company introduced Tritan Protect.[17][18][19] 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.
See also
- Superfest (a chemically hardened glass also known as Ceverit or CV-Glas)
- Gorilla Glass
- Borosilicate glass (a type of heat-resistant glass)
References
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