ANSWERS: 2
  • No. Modern plastics emit practically no chemicals, and what there is is mainly oils that do no harm (used to be there would be solvent traces too, but thats been solved. So that is not the reason to not drink bottled water. Instead you should consider the waste involved in bottling water and selling it that way. Producing the bottle, washing or recycling it, cleaning up discarded bottles in the countryside, making labels, etc. It comes to something like 3 pints of clean water for each pint sold, plus the raw materials and co2-emissions from production and distribution. Tap water is a lot cheaper, and just as good.
  • The source of the concerns regarding plastic bottles lies in a chemical known as Bisphenol A, commonly known as "BPA". BPA is a monomer (think "ingredient") used in the making of a particular plastic known as polycarbonate (a common brand name is Lexan). Polycarbonate is also used to line food grade metal cans. In 2007, concerns began to be raised regarding the "leaching" of BPA by fluids, after reusable bottles had been washed and exposed to high heat when drying. The amounts leached were typically minimal (an increase from 1.2 micrograms to 2.0 micrograms was found in a 2009 study). The EPA considers up to 50 micrograms per day for an adult as a safe level. One major scare came from polycarbonate baby bottles. Due to an infant's smaller body weight, combined with more frequent washing of polycarbonate baby bottles, some babies were found to be consuming upwards of 10 micrograms per day; a high level, but still not considered toxic. Most commercially available bottled water brands do not, and likely have never, used polycarbonate plastic in the making of their bottles. A majority of consumer-level plastic bottles are manufactured using polyethelyne or polypropylene plastics, which do not use BPA in their manufacturing process. Meaning that odds are, you have nothing to worry about.

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