When the company that produces Nalgene water bottles -- those clunky cylinders that became nothing short of a fashion statement among American college students and hikers back in the 1990s -- announced this week that it would stop using the hard plastic it's always used because of studies proving it to cause hormonal changes and possibly cancer, the news seemed like a revelation.

How could such a hippie product contain a toxic chemical? Besides, it's just plastic.

But it's plastic that contains bisphenol-a, or BPA, which has caused pre-cancerous tumors and early puberty in lab rats, according to a report issued by the National Toxicology Program.

Meanwhile, the American Chemical Association insisted that there is no evidence proving that similar symptoms would occur in humans, and asked the Food and Drug Administration to review the chemical.

This is alarming, yes, but hardly a revelation. Nalgene's use of plastic with BPA has been known for years, as has the potential harm caused by that chemical. In 2003, a study by the Environmental Health Perspectives showed that washing polycarbonate plastic, like the stuff Nalgene uses, actually releases more BPA. This suggested that as the bottles break down, more of their chemicals leak into whatever they're being used to carry -- usually water.

To view images of of BPA in Nalgene's plastic, and to read the facts now being reported as "news", check out this 2003 page from Our Stolen Future.

This 2005 report from the Green Guide explains the dangers of Nalgene bottles, and offers sound advice on what consumers should have done then, nearly three years ago.