drinking for your health
28 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
remember when everyone started freaking out about reusing water bottles? my science teacher once told me reusing your bottle can cause infertility. well here’s an article from the ABC about reusing water bottles and what the best and safest practices are.
Choosing a bottle
If you want to err on the side of caution, Moore suggests you avoid drinks bottles that have the recycling codes of 3 or 7, particularly for children.
The best bottles to use and reuse are those with the recycling codes 2, 4 and 5. 2 and 4 are made from polyethylene and 5 is made from polypropylene.
“There’s absolutely nothing in polyethylene or polypropylene that could be classified as dangerous”, says Moore. But these bottles are more expensive to make, so while they are likely to be found more and more in reusable bottles, PET is likely to be the plastic of choice for single-use bottles for a while to come.
You can also check that reusuable bottles say they are ‘BPA-free’, as some bottles may be made of number 5 plastic but use polycarbonate linings or mouthpieces.
Another rule of thumb is to use clear plastic rather than coloured or opaque because they eliminate small potential risks from colouring agents added to the plastic, says Moore.
And while stainless steel or aluminium bottles are often considered a safe bet, these still have some issues, says Moore. Stainless steel can corrode a little over time and while the released iron won’t harm you, it’ll add an unpleasant taste to your water.
Aluminium can also corrode and release aluminium salts into the water. One way of stopping this is to use a plastic liner, which takes you to square one. Glass is a good, but often impractical.
“In the end you’ve got to balance all the issues. I would think that many bottles are safe to use, even PET ones. The only one I would advise against are PVC and polycarbonate,” concludes Moore.
Professor Michael Moore is also Chair of Water Quality Research Australia. He spoke to Katherine Nightingale.
to read more visit; http://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2010/10/27/3048695.htm
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