In light of the drought and in an effort to keep my blogs focused on water, it seems important to consider the container in which you should place your filtered tap water. How about one of those indestructible Nalgene bottles that have become oh-so-popular in recent years? Though officially denied, the material from with many of these must-have bottles are made contain phthalates. It acts as enendocrine blocker which can pose to various health risks. Check out some of the research if you're sufficiently bored.How can one tell if they're drinking from one of these poisonous bottles? Flip it over and check out the bottom. If you see a #7 and PC, it is time for a different bottle. 'PC' stands for polycarbonate. Though popular, it leaches bisphenol A into the water. Again, potential health risks.
How can one avoid these issues? Look for plastic bottles with recycle codes #2, #4 or #5. These plastics (High density polyethylene, Low density polyethylene, and Polypropylene) are not known to leach harmful chemicals. Nalgene is now offering some HDPE options, but you need to look closely for these letters. Even better, grab yourself a metal water bottle from GreenFeet. Metal won't leach any harmful chemicals into your water. I ordered mine today and am anxiously awaiting its arrival.
Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:U%2B2674_DejaVu_Sans.svg
2 comments:
What if the plastic bottle has a #1? Do you know if that's one of the safer ones?
Plastic labeled with #1 is known as polyethylene terephthalate, which contains antimony trioxide. According to the World Health Organization, there is a potential for carcinogenic risk, but it appears to be quite low. Packaged food often comes in #1 plastic, but if you have a choice (e.g., drinking cups, storage containers), you can avoid health issues related to plastic by using glass or metal. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/antimonysum.pdf
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