There are many "rumours" out there about how drinking water out of plastic bottles is bad for you. The basis is that the plastic degenerates due to light exposure or due to the ozonating process to purify the water. These carcinogenic compouds are then deposisted into fatty tissues within the body and build up with repeatitive exposure.
Is anyone out there aware of any REAL research done that can prove this?
Plastic (for those who are not aware) comes ultimately from chemicals, usually obtained from refining crude oil. Most other oil derived products have been known to be highly carcinogenic for decades: tar, asphalt etc. That in mind, I can't see how consumers would once deny the possibility that plastic is too and conntinue to mindlessly buy drinks in plastic bottles...
The Green Movement wants us to rid all plastic bags out of the stores, but on the other side of the coin, it's so rare to find anything to eat or drink that comes in anything else but plastic. This worries me.
Loading recent content...
Post Comments
Add Your Comment!
Log in to leave a comment or Create an account
This is what I've read....
'The first thing to do when considering whether to purchase a food or beverage packaged in plastic is to flip the product over. On the under surface you will find a recycling triangle with a number inside. That number will help you determine how safe the plastic container is. As a rule of thumb, choose 2, 4, or 5 to stay alive.
Most disposable drink containers are made of #1 plastic, called PETE. This is just an OK plastic. It is not as toxic as polycarbonate #7, which leaches a hormone disruptor known as Bisphenol A (BPA) into its contents. Nor is it as toxic as #3, polyvinyl chloride or #6, polystyrene. However, PETE plastic leaches antimony, which interferes with your body’s ability to detoxify itself, a function that is vital in today’s toxic world.'
But whether that info is correct or not, I do not know. Maybe someone else has read differently and can shed better light on that for you. =)
Good topic though!
~Lisa
Yep, your absolutely right. But out FDA doesn't have the time or energy to look into it. They are too busy wasting their time on 50 year old drugs, to care if the food we eat, or the plastic we drink out of are safe. We as consumers need to do our own research into these matters and protect ourselves. Baby bottles and sippie cups contain this chemical, and a few companies that make bottles and cups make a product that does not contain the chemical in question, sorry I don't remember the name of it. I think I remeber there being a way by looking at the recycling number on the bottom to tell, I'll see if I can find that out. If we as consumers seek out the non chemical containing containers it will be worth it for manufacturers (due to money of course) to use the safer plastics without the chemical in question. Great post, I guess all my rambling is just to say I agree with you. :0)
Check the bottom of the plastic container for the recycling symbol 7 and the letters "PC" for polycarbonate. The letters "PC" beside a recycling symbol 7 will ensure that the product is made from polycarbonate and contains BPA. «If there is only a recycling symbol 7, the plastic may not contain BPA. This is because recycling symbol 7 is a broad category used for plastics including polycarbonates as well as a variety of other plastics. «If a container has no recycling symbol, there is no way to determine what type of plastic was used.» source: http://www.abreastinthewest.ca/print.cfm?DB=active&Num=93
The agency (FDA)issued a draft report that declared BPA safe for use in food packaging and bottles, based largely on the strength of two studies, both funded by industry.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090303397.html
Several major retailers, including Wal-Mart and Toys R Us, have pledged to drop BPA products next year while some makers of baby bottles and sports bottles have switched to BPA-free plastic.
"Unfortunately the regulatory agency charged with protecting the public health continues to rely on industry-based research to arrive at its conclusions, rather than examining the totality of scientific evidence," Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement yesterday. His committee is investigating the FDA's handling of BPA.
» Comments RSS