Are Brita Containers Safe?

A reader writes The Green Guide:

I use a 2-gallon Brita filter system. I recently discovered that the container is made of styrene methylmethacrylate copolymer. Will this type of plastic leak chemicals into my water? If so, is there an inexpensive alternative that you would recommend? I'm sure many of your readers use a Brita system and would benefit from knowing about this plastic.

Thanks, Michael Lande

The Green Guide responds:

It is true that Brita filter systems use containers made from styrene methylmethacrylate copolymer, which is a polymer (a combination of molecules) primarily used in the production of acrylic sheeting, molding powders and resin and surface coatings. According to Brita, the company manufactures containers made from styrene methylmethacrylate copolymer to avoid leaching.

Brita's information on leaching came from the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), which performs extensive material safety tests. The NSF states that Brita pitchers have been tested for material safety while in contact with "very aggressive water" (i.e. exposure to water with low total of dissolved solids and .5 ppm of available chlorine for three successive 24-hour periods) and have found no evidence of leaching.

Rick Andrews, the technical manager of the Drinking Water Treatment Unit Certification Program at the NSF, explains that when a company is seeking NSF certification for new container/filter system, NSF requires information about the constituents of the plastic and then tests for leachates they know are associated with those ingredients. Using acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) as an example, they would look for styrene and acrylonitrile leaching into the water. We asked about styrene leaching from the methylmethacrylate copolymer, and he assured us that any polymer that includes a styrene component would be tested for styrene leaching.

For a second opinion, we also checked with the FDA. Their report on styrene methylmethacrylate also found that it may be safely used in repeat contact with foods without risk of leaching.

The bottom line is that The Green Guide sees no reason not to use Brita pitchers so long as they are the correct filter for the contaminants in your tap water. To learn more about which filters remove which contaminants, please see our Water Filters product report.

Lastly, whether we are drinking, bathing, or cleaning, it is important that the water supply we use be free of contaminants. In order to ensure your safety, learn about the types of contaminants in your local water supply and home water and diligently purify your water through treatment or filtering (see "Three Simple Steps to Clean, Safe Drinking Water"). In addition, it is important to learn about the potential hazards posed by containers and filtration systems available on the market, like Brita.