UPDATE: Primo’s VP of Marketing Responds to Incredible Shrinking Water Bottle
Reader David wrote in to show us the transformation of his incredible shrinking water bottle. The bottles used by Primo bottled water are made from plant by-products which degrade easily compared to normal plastic, making them more eco-friendly. However, as David found out, they shrink to nearly half their size when exposed to sunlight and the heat from inside a car which could easily result in a watery mess. David’s letter and photo, inside…
Editors,
I recently purchased a case of Primo bottled water. Like other products,
it’s trying to a niche. Their spin is that the plastic in the bottle is
made from plants, not crude oil. Additionally, they claim the water tastes
just as good as the national brands. BUT the thing you aren’t told is that
the bottle shrinks!I left a bottle in my car while I was at work (I park in an open lot). When
I left work and got into my car, I noticed that the bottle was half its
original size. The bottle shrank after a few hours under the Houston sun.
Perhaps plastic made from corn by-products is not as durable as plastic
from petroleum. Whatever it is, I am concerned. If the bottle was full and
it shrank, it could have exploded from the pressure. Or it could have
gushed out as I was opening it. Because the plastic is so sensitive to 100
degree heat, it doesn’t serve its purpose very well. And, this probably
means that toxins could be leaking out from the plastic.Buyer beware!
I have enclosed a picture that compares the original bottle with the
shrunken version.Thank you,
David
Degradable bottles seem like a good idea, we just don’t want them degrading inside of our cars.
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I love the “this ‘eco-friendly POS almost broke in my car in the parking lot at work!’” complaining. How about a nice, more eco-friendly, refillable water bottle along with the bus? Forget the “buy into the green” and just live a little more green.
@basket548: I respectfully disagree. How do you know if the plastic bottle has undergone any heat treatment testing? Just because the label says it’s biodegradable doesn’t mean it’s 100% safe, even in hot temperatures.
I personally would not want to ingest water from a deformed bottle. To me that seems like reasonable caution. Kind of like not buying a dented can at the grocery store. It may or may not be OK, but I don’t want to be the guinea pig.
@Ubermunch: My last car — and the massive stain all over the passenger-side front seat and upholstery underneath the roof (do cars have ceilings?) say otherwise. Had a can of Coca-Cola blow up in Chicago.
Also learned that waxy paper cups from fast-food joints will melt unpleasantly and leak all over when left in a hot car for days on end….
@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy: Yep. Most likely it was much higher than 100 degrees. The lack of understanding of exactly how hot cars get is the cause of too many pet and child deaths. I’m OK with a waterbottle casualty.
(Oh, and before I forget, on the toxicity issue: “OMG! There are chemicals in my water!” Must I again bring up the frightening reality of dihydrogen monoxide?)
DO WANT
Seriously, that is cool looking.
Even the cap shrunk along with the mouth.
@NotATool: The plastic has probably undergone heat testing at multiple points – I’d guess, at least, at the original manufacturer (which uses the data to ensure that the product conforms to their specifications/gov’t regulations) and again at the bottler (to ensure that they’re getting material that conforms to their standards).
Additionally, corn-based plastics like this are rated as “compostable plastic,” an ASTM standard that states (among other things) that the material must leave no toxic residue and must break down into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass.
I do think it’s ironic that their selling point is biodegradable plastic, when bottled water is inherently environmentally inefficient.
@witeowl: Don’t! The people can’t handle the truth!
Well I would have to guess that he just slid the label off a bottle then placed it over a smaller bottle and is now enjoying a good laugh at all the discussion. I just have a hard time believing a plastic bottle would shrink so perfectly and evenly in all dimensions, yet have the mouth size stay the same to continue holding the threaded cap, or that the cap would shrink the same as the bottle. The shapes of the bottoms don’t exactly look the same either. Just my skeptical opinion, I could of course be wrong. Someone else buy some of this stuff and run a test. Also, as others already pointed out, a car parked in the sun in Texas gets a LOT hotter than 100 degrees inside.
@driver905, donkeyjote: I call shenanigans as well.
I’m in Michigan and I have to agree with zigziggityzoo, I’ve had cans of diet coke explode in both my hot car and my freezing cold car. Neither are very fun to clean up.
Why is it that nobody even questions whether or not these are even the same kind of bottle in the photo? There are too many variations between the two bottles to seem all that realistic. Most visibly the bottom of the smaller bottle appears to be from a completely different mold and possibly even a different material altogether, like a glass fruit-juice bottle as compared to the plastic water bottle. Even the shape of the shrunken bottle has very little similarity to the larger bottle.
The label actually seems to confirm this issue because even if it’s a different kind of plastic, it should have distorted more than appears in the given circumstances.
All in all, while I won’t say it didn’t happen, I also have to say I’m extremely skeptical of the whole story. I have no experience in ever seeing this kind of shrinkage despite buying water and other consumables and leaving partially or even completely empty bottles in my car for days during a hot summer.
As for the “exploding aluminum can” comments, Discovery Channel’s “Mythbusters” has debunked that particular story very graphically, per this link: [mythbustersresults.com]
While I don’t deny a car gets hot, conditions such as needed to cause such an effect need to be more extreme than evidenced in this discussion. Possibly the one mitigating factor was whether or not the car involved was black rather than some other color, at which point it could absorb much more heat and maybe have enough additional effect to cause the stated shrinkage.
Maybe it’s a depth-perception trick.
What happened to the ripple part on the bottom of the bottle?
Another idea, hot air could leak out through the cap, depending on how tightly it was closed, and didn’t pop.
Of course, you all realize you are being legally poisoned by your water anyway. Has anybody bothered to look into the hazards of fluoride in your drinking water? How about the chlorine salts? Drugs? All of these have been found in tap water around the country and some of them are legally mandated.
What’s a little plastic in your water compared to all these other chemicals?
@witeowl: Must I again bring up the frightening reality of dihydrogen monoxide?
Seriously, that stuff is the worst. It ought to be banned.
corn-based bioplastic
another piece of tech competing with me for food
Here in Seattle, land of all things green, many shops have started using the “100% Compostable” cups (as well as the tops for them). Another big label trumpets “Made From Corn.” But in tiny letters on the bottom of the cup, it adds, “For Cold Drinks Only.” No other warnings of impending shrinkage or heat-related doom.
@sketchy: Wrong. Health Canada has listed BPA as dangerous and are seeking to list it as toxic. And let’s be honest. We can’t trust anything coming from the current administration’s departments right now. Censorship of actual scientific data by corporate lackeys installed by the Bush regime has seen to that.
@rellog: Just playing devil’s advocate here (I haven’t read any of the research myself) but German and Japanese agencies – as well as the EU’s Food Safety Authority – seem to think that the toxicity studies don’t hold much water. And I know that the EU tends to be pretty strict about this stuff.
Grocery Shrink Ray in stealth mode-shrinks after you buy
Jay,
Thanks for alerting us to David’s discovery about Primo in “The
Incredible Shrinking Water Bottle” post. Also, we want to thank David
for making the simple choice of choosing Primo over other bottled
waters.
As your readers have pointed out, many beverage bottles alter when
exposed to high heat. Because Primo bottles are made from a renewable
plant-based natural plastic that is better for the environment that
oil-based bottles, in some instances, exposure to high temperatures can
alter the shape of the bottle. As with all beverages, we recommend
storing Primo in a cool place. In addition, there should be no worry
that any chemicals can leach into the Primo water. Rigorous testing
indicates that regardless of temperature, there is no known leaking of
chemicals from Primo’s natural, petroleum-free bottle to the water
inside. Primo single-serve bottles are also 100% BPA free.
Thanks to your story, we will update the “frequently asked questions”
section on our Web site at http://www.primowater.com
to clarify these points.
Tim Ronan
Primo Water Corporation
@WiglyWorm: Aaaaah. Thank you for that explanation.
@driver905: I just have a hard time believing a plastic bottle would shrink so perfectly and evenly in all dimensions, yet have the mouth size stay the same to continue holding the threaded cap, or that the cap would shrink the same as the bottle
The amount of plastic used is a lot thicker at the mouth of the bottle – this can be demonstrated on any plastic drink bottle – squeeze the middle and see how flimsy the plastic is there, then take the cap off and squeeze the mouth of the bottle. A lot thicker. The thinner parts would be affected by the heat first and show more obvious shrinkage, with less structure to keep them from shrinking.
LOL @ Sidecutter’s “Shrinky-Dinks!!!” Damn we’re old.
Just for the record, from
Primo’s
website:
Will Primo bottles change shape in high heat?
Primo bottles are made from a renewable plant-based natural plastic that is
better for the environment than oil-based bottles. But like other plastics,
in some instances, exposure to high temperatures can alter the shape of the
bottle. As with all beverages, we recommend storing Primo in a cool place.
In addition, there should be no worry that any chemicals can leach into the
Primo water. Rigorous testing indicates that regardless of temperature,
there is no known leaking of chemicals from our natural, petroleum-free
bottle to the water inside. Primo single-serve bottles are also 100% BPA
free.
He is overreacting. It is simply the grocery shrink ray misfiring.
@Dervish: “…the toxicity studies don’t hold much water.”
Was that an intentional pun, seeing as how we’re discussing water bottles?
And another wonderful use for corn! F*ck food prices, make fuel AND bottles out of corn instead of food.
In a car in that heat for that many hours, I think you would be hard-pressed to find something that wouldn’t melt or shrink.
@Ben Popken: What about normal plastic?