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Possible Duplicate:
Is refilling water bottles bad for you?

Several articles claim that the 'chemical leaching' from reusable clear plastic water bottles leads to toxins in the water, not even just when left in the sun.

  • West Virginia Environmental Council

    In 1998, Dr. Patricia Hunt of Case Western University in Ohio discovered that one of the components of Lexan polycarbonate resin--bisphenol-A (BPA)--can leach into water from water bottles. BPA is a potent hormone disruptor. It can impair the reproductive organs and have adverse effects on breast tissue and prostate development.

  • The Cornell Daily Sun

    Chemical leaching is another pertinent problem in reusable bottles because it poses a significant risk to the drinker’s health. Bisphenol A, more commonly known as BPA, is a hotly controversial molecule that has been implicated in several disorders, like heart disease, diabetes, sterility and altered childhood development. [...] BPA isn’t the only chemical that has been recently investigated. Environmental Health Perspectives published a study earlier this year examining chemical leaching in BPA-free products, concentrating on baby bottles and water bottles. The researchers discovered that, despite not containing any BPA, these products still leach chemicals that mimic estrogen.

If plastic bottles are so detrimental to our health, wouldn't we have seen major signs since it is so widely used?

Is this supposed chemical leaching actually harmful?

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  • Perhaps there were signs, and you were not looking? –  Jul 03 '12 at 21:52
  • With such widespread use of plastic bottles in almost every industry, heart disease and sterility would have skyrocketed. As the BPA scare seems to be either underground or fad-based, if it really did contain such dangers organizations around the world would have banned it by now. – Christopher Jul 04 '12 at 03:56
  • With the tinfoil hat of a devil's advocate squarely in place, you have not proved a massive conspiracy does not exist. Not by merely asserting that the truth must have come out. And in this case, we must recognize that there have been changes in human health over the years. For example, the prevalence of heart disease, autism, asthma, cancer, etc., has all apparently changed since the introduction of plastic bottles. You have not proved a lack of causation here simply by asserting that nobody has yet proved it. (Tinfoil hat is now removed.) –  Jul 04 '12 at 12:38
  • @Sklivvz, the 'duplicate' question does not address specifically leeching chemicals from the plastic itself, not bacteria build up. And the answer to that question doesn't come close to answering this one. – Christopher Jul 04 '12 at 14:45
  • @Woodchips, good point, but a better one would be an argument that couldn't disprove itself. Same could be said the other way around... however people acting irrationally because of some 'hype' is more damaging than most harmful substances. – Christopher Jul 04 '12 at 14:47
  • @Sklivvz: I am dealing with people (FB, National Geographic) warning that bottles are leaking dioxins, phthalates and BPA. This is nothing to do with reuse. How do you feel about (me) changing this to be about leaching in (single-use) bottles, and leaving the other to be about bacteria in reused ones? – Oddthinking Jul 20 '12 at 02:36
  • @Sklivvz I recently learned of an ad campaign and news stories of disposable plastic water bottles melting slightly while in high heat circumstances (Say, sitting in a car in the sun), and thus the melting results in greater (I'm assuming) toxin release. Would that subject change be sufficient to reopen the question? – Christopher Aug 08 '12 at 11:54

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