During class today, I looked over and saw someone drinking out of a plastic water bottle. Not the kind that you refill, the kind that you throw out after using once. Everyone is always talking about how these are so destructive towards our environment, but could they have any effect on our health? I thought there is no way that these plastic bottles that go through extreme temperature changes and water in there for a who knows how long, can possibly be ok for our health. So I decided to do some further research.
As I began to learn about the different types of plastic, I saw that most plastic water bottles are made from #1 (PET or PETE), which is considered safe. Even though there has been reporting of chemicals leaching into the water, the EPA still considers them safe. The dangers of plastic water bottles arise with plastic labeled #7, which is usually polycarbonate. The National Toxicology program conducted a study in which, discovered that these #7 bottles have a chemical called bisphenol (BPA) in them, which to many scientists surprise may be very toxic to humans. Today, many bottles are BPA free, but you never know if you are drinking from one that is not and it is better to be safe than sorry.
Of course to this day we do not know all of the effects all plastic water bottles and we may not know for a long time to come. To be safe, we should do our best to cut out all of the plastic water bottles we use and use reusable bottles that have been cleared as safe to drink from.
The effects that these plastic water bottles have on our environment has a much more negative impact than the effects they have on humans. This past summer, I did a lot of research on this issue and here is a link that just outlines some of the many awful effects bottled water has on our environment.
There are so many reasons why we should not drink from plastic water bottles and now that we see it may be harmful to our health as well as the environment, I know I will try harder to use reusable bottles.
At home I never use a plastic whiter bottle, but while in college it is so convenient to just pick up a water on the go. After reading your article I realized that this is a bad move on my part and I really need to get a reusable water bottle. I have always known plastic was bad for our environment and even our health but I never really looked into it, and your post definitely opened up my eyes to what harm I was doing to myself and our earth. Thanks for the good post!
Because the bottle water company needs to sell their products, there focus must be how safe and environmental friendly plastic bottles are, which makes we consumers a bit relieved. I think digging the problems in the health aspect is more effective than telling people how much damage plastic bottles may bring to the environment, as people for sure care more about themselves than the environment.
About the BPA problem, although some bottles are labeled BPA free, the producers are using something else (I think the name is APA) to replace the role of BPA, and the safety of that substitute is never tested. It seems like that the only way to resolve the concern is to bring people’s attention to the problem and let the public be aware what they are actually using.
A few years ago all we heard about was how water bottles caused cancer! So, after reading this blog I wanted to see if BPA really caused cancer or not. After a lot of back and forth on the affects of BPA on humans I finally found a study that showed:
“fetal BPA exposure, revealing chemical alterations in rhesus monkey mammary gland development, said the San Francisco Gate (SF Gate). For the study, researchers fed pregnant rhesus macaques monkeys a piece of fruit that contained BPA every day during their third trimester of pregnancy.
The monkeys’ BPA blood levels reached the average level that BPA has been observed in human blood in the U.S., according to Patricia Hunt, a geneticist at Washington State University and a study author, said the SF Gate. The changes observed reinforce concerns that BPA could contribute to breast cancer, according to the team.
The researchers studied the mammary glands of the female offspring of BPA-exposed monkeys and discovered changes in those glands that lead to dense tissue, said the SF Gate. Dense breast tissue is a risk factor for human breast caner, Hunt explained. Prior and new studies conducted by Ana Soto and Carlos Sonnenschein, revealed that exposing rodents to small amounts of BPA could alter mammary gland development and lead to precancerous and cancerous lesions later in life.”
Plastic water bottles are kind of like the introduction of cigarettes. Everyone thought they were great, they were even recommended by doctors! There were some initial health questions raised about them but as far as anyone knew they weren’t anything life threatening. Until, 20 years later when they realized cigarettes were causing lung cancer! So, maybe in a few years we’ll find out plastic water bottles definitely cause cancer and there will be much more of a definitive answer on the issue since were just in the beginning stages of research now.
But if you just want to take some precautions for now and save yourself and earth the troubles later on here is a link that shows some great alternatives to plastic water bottles!
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/bpa-free-is-toxic-too.html
Just from being on a college campus for only a few weeks now I have noticed how almost everyone is carrying one of the reusable water bottles with them everywhere they go. Is it because of the health factors that come with using a plastic water bottle? Or could it just be for show? Either way every student who carries one of the reusable bottles around is helping to save the environment along with keeping themselves healthy. Whether it is for the look or actually for the risk factors they are still doing the right thing.