Plastic bottled water - how safe?

[Cheshire Cat]

Am I worrying unnecessarily?

Someone raised the issue with me this morning regading my consumption of water from plastic bottles. I have heard rumours but never taken much notice but, apparently, my friend had read a recent article in a magazine stating that plastic water bottles can be carcinogenic. Are we at risk drinking from plastic bottles and should switch to glass bottles or are there too many articles scaring us half to death with findings that just about everything is going to harm our health in the long term?

I drink (plastic) bottles of the stuff (refilled from the tap!) all day long. Should I cut back? Does anyone know?

 

[kelley111]

My sister also told me about what she heard on the news. It is okay to drink from the plastic bottle once, but NOT to refill the bottles as the plastic is not durable and will break down over time and remain in your water. I never refill my bottles. This maybe a coincidence, but my uncle was having stomach problems for a while. My sister told him about this, he stopped refilling his plastic bottles and the stomach problems went away. Could be just a coincidence, but we don't know.

 

[kristi]

I heard the same story a few months ago about reusing the same water bottle over and over again, but I don't hold credit to it. I think this is a way to sell more bottles of water and keep people from reusing the same bottles. Personnally I am not worried about it. I would be more worried about the build-up of bacteria if the bottle is not washed than carcinogens. Sorry I am not much help.

 

[mogambo]

I think plastics are an underreported source of chronic health problems, that they build up in the system and may cause wierd issues in life. That being said, I both drink water from plastic, and refill them to save money and avoid making garbage. What I have stopped doing due to warnings from The Peoples Pharmacy on how much plastic molecules travel into food, is I've stopped microwaving in plastic containers ever, and I store food in glass too. But I do drink water in plastic. I'm not going to carry glass around. The softer the plastic the more dangerous. Plastic wrap on food is the worst.

My friend Brenda though reuses a metal water bottle.

 

[AllisonT]

I read the same article(s) Kelley did - one easy solution is to buy a water bottle that you CAN reuse, like the Tupperware or KitchenAid ones that are sold at any supermarket, and transfer your bottled water into that. Those supermarket bottles are cheap, VERY airtight, easy to wash and come in a variety of sizes - 16oz, 24oz, 32oz, 64oz.

 

[pace1987]

It seems like everything is bad for you. I do exactly what most of the forum said I take my first bottle then refill with the rest with tap water then start over again in the morning.

 

[autumn]

I received an email regarding this a few months ago (I think), so I went to snopes.com. According to snopes (for what is worth ), it is false... here is the link http://www.snopes.com/toxins/bottles.asp
I don't know what to think now about the carcinogenic issue, but the last paragraph regarding bacteria sounds reasonable. It is so difficult to know what to believe, especially since some people have heard it on the news and some of you read articles in magazines. Anyway, I thought the link might provide some helpful info.

Autumn

 

[trevor]

You can drive yourself nuts with some of this stuff.
What about the plastic coffe cup you use everyday?
I'd be careful of what you all microwave, like plastic containers and such. Otherwise I wouldnt sweat this too much.
There are lots of things we are exposed to daily that are carcinogenic and I am not driving myself crazy with every little warning that comes out. Just use common sense. I'm sure there are things out there now that we think are safe and 20 yrs from now will be considered bad for you.
Hell everytime you grill there are carcinogenic chemicals being given off and deposited on the meats you are grilling.
Trevor

 

[kelley111]

I agree with Trevor. I wouldn't worry too much about it myself. I posted above that I never refill my water bottles, but what I forgot to mention was why. I have never refilled my water bottles with tap water because I don't like the way it tastes. I also don't buy the big jugs of water and pour into a glass as I don't the way it tastes. For some reason, I only like bottled water while in the bottle. I know I'm weird.

 

[betsylz]

THANK YOU TREVOR! (So good to hear a voice of reason)