Hello all, this would be a great item to put into a health section. Maybe if health issues had a specific smilie...
hmm.
I have a lot of people in my life who are battling cancer these days.
I wonder if the leeching plastic might actually have something to do with the problem.
Just in case it might, I thought of doing a bit of research on the topic.
I was looking around for a Canadian replacement for the water bottle problem. I hadn’t realized what a controversy I wandered into.
I was just trying to research water bottles.
If you reuse your Evian bottles, there are complex harmful bacteria getting in. If you buy the dedicated Nalgene bottles, there are toxins being leeched into your water.
I have since gotten so many opinions, and I now welcome yours. I really don't know anything about this, but am being careful.
The most amazing thing is how few materials there are that are as unbreakable or as versatile as the miracle substance: plastic. Is it a double edged sword? What are we doing to ourselves and our loved ones for that?
Here is a good article from the Globe and Mail.
http://tinyurl.com/l5sfg
There are loads of costlier options.
Glass is still considered a possibility, I suppose but most of the schools won't allow glass bottles in the kids lunches and if Evian bottles and the Nalgene ones aren’t good, there are few options other than stainless steel just because of breakage.
These sound interesting. If you think of any, let me know.
These ones work:
http://tinyurl.com/ez4kt
http://tinyurl.com/l5w7k
here is a comparison shopping site:
http://www.nextag.com/drinking-bottle/search-html
I guess the best thing would be to go back to the thermos bottles you get in china town.
I have lots of them in a bunch of sizes.
Then at least you have the option of heat and cold.
You can send your kids with herbal tea.
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I just listened to an interview on CBC Radio's Ontario Today, with a plastics expert about the chemicals that leach out of plastic containers...and, since i was writing it out, figured I'd send it to people i care about!
To sum up:
don't use hard, clear plastic bottles.
don't heat any food in any plastic.
don't refill and re-use water bottles
and, after filtering with the Brita, keep water in glass container
As you know, most plastic containers have a number or a recycle number on the bottom of them. Those are the numbers referred to, in the following cheat notes from the interview.
AVOID:
#7 the hard, clear plastics - they contain BPA ...a polycarbonate plastic made from a sex hormone
There are some new products that have the number 7 on them with a slight yellow tint to them that are ok.
#3 poly vinyl chloride...to be avoided at all costs. contain harzardous chemicals for boys and men
#6 has toxicity associated with it...but, not as serious as #3 & #7
SAFER:
#2 plastic: ethylene based
#5 plastic: propalene based (can't see thru them)
or any plastic you can't see through
#1 (most water bottles) #1 plastic is ethylene based (PET), and is 100% recyclable. It is safe, as long as you don't re-use it many times (after 15 washings it starts to emit a chemical) . The longer the water is in a bottle, the greater the leaching.
In general, #1 would not be hazardous, but, don't reuse it.
DO NOT BUY:
--If the material is hard, glasslike in appearance. particularly if hard and clear....do not buy it.
--CLEAR Nalgene, even with coloring. called BPA. has the appearance of glass, and being very hard. when it is exposed to heat, the chemical is released into the liquid. equivalent to a birth control pill type of chemical.
-- stainless steel, lightweight sport bottles...he wasn't familiar with it, and couldn't comment on them
-- BRITA water filters -- the Brita carbon filter filters the chemicals out of the municipal water supply,which is good, but, unfortunately the Brita filters the water into a BPA plastic container, which is not good, and the older the Brita container is, the more chemicals leach into the water. The best thing is to put a carbon filter right on your tap, or, put the water through the Brita carbon filter, and store it in a glass container.
-- Tupperware? (as long as it's not clear and hard) you can FREEZE food in them, but, don't heat in them.
***THERE is no such thing as a safe microwaveable plastic ***
the basic chemistry: the hotter the molecules, the more chemical leaching you get.
- baby bottles -- use non see-through bottles
-water bottles with a #6 on them are polystyrene - no good
-many of the plastics are not recyclable, even if they have a number on them.
oh god. good thing beer is in glass bottles.
hmm.
I have a lot of people in my life who are battling cancer these days.
I wonder if the leeching plastic might actually have something to do with the problem.
Just in case it might, I thought of doing a bit of research on the topic.
I was looking around for a Canadian replacement for the water bottle problem. I hadn’t realized what a controversy I wandered into.
I was just trying to research water bottles.
If you reuse your Evian bottles, there are complex harmful bacteria getting in. If you buy the dedicated Nalgene bottles, there are toxins being leeched into your water.
I have since gotten so many opinions, and I now welcome yours. I really don't know anything about this, but am being careful.
The most amazing thing is how few materials there are that are as unbreakable or as versatile as the miracle substance: plastic. Is it a double edged sword? What are we doing to ourselves and our loved ones for that?
Here is a good article from the Globe and Mail.
http://tinyurl.com/l5sfg
There are loads of costlier options.
Glass is still considered a possibility, I suppose but most of the schools won't allow glass bottles in the kids lunches and if Evian bottles and the Nalgene ones aren’t good, there are few options other than stainless steel just because of breakage.
These sound interesting. If you think of any, let me know.
These ones work:
http://tinyurl.com/ez4kt
http://tinyurl.com/l5w7k
here is a comparison shopping site:
http://www.nextag.com/drinking-bottle/search-html
I guess the best thing would be to go back to the thermos bottles you get in china town.
I have lots of them in a bunch of sizes.
Then at least you have the option of heat and cold.
You can send your kids with herbal tea.
____________________________
___________________________
I just listened to an interview on CBC Radio's Ontario Today, with a plastics expert about the chemicals that leach out of plastic containers...and, since i was writing it out, figured I'd send it to people i care about!
To sum up:
don't use hard, clear plastic bottles.
don't heat any food in any plastic.
don't refill and re-use water bottles
and, after filtering with the Brita, keep water in glass container
As you know, most plastic containers have a number or a recycle number on the bottom of them. Those are the numbers referred to, in the following cheat notes from the interview.
AVOID:
#7 the hard, clear plastics - they contain BPA ...a polycarbonate plastic made from a sex hormone
There are some new products that have the number 7 on them with a slight yellow tint to them that are ok.
#3 poly vinyl chloride...to be avoided at all costs. contain harzardous chemicals for boys and men
#6 has toxicity associated with it...but, not as serious as #3 & #7
SAFER:
#2 plastic: ethylene based
#5 plastic: propalene based (can't see thru them)
or any plastic you can't see through
#1 (most water bottles) #1 plastic is ethylene based (PET), and is 100% recyclable. It is safe, as long as you don't re-use it many times (after 15 washings it starts to emit a chemical) . The longer the water is in a bottle, the greater the leaching.
In general, #1 would not be hazardous, but, don't reuse it.
DO NOT BUY:
--If the material is hard, glasslike in appearance. particularly if hard and clear....do not buy it.
--CLEAR Nalgene, even with coloring. called BPA. has the appearance of glass, and being very hard. when it is exposed to heat, the chemical is released into the liquid. equivalent to a birth control pill type of chemical.
-- stainless steel, lightweight sport bottles...he wasn't familiar with it, and couldn't comment on them
-- BRITA water filters -- the Brita carbon filter filters the chemicals out of the municipal water supply,which is good, but, unfortunately the Brita filters the water into a BPA plastic container, which is not good, and the older the Brita container is, the more chemicals leach into the water. The best thing is to put a carbon filter right on your tap, or, put the water through the Brita carbon filter, and store it in a glass container.
-- Tupperware? (as long as it's not clear and hard) you can FREEZE food in them, but, don't heat in them.
***THERE is no such thing as a safe microwaveable plastic ***
the basic chemistry: the hotter the molecules, the more chemical leaching you get.
- baby bottles -- use non see-through bottles
-water bottles with a #6 on them are polystyrene - no good
-many of the plastics are not recyclable, even if they have a number on them.
oh god. good thing beer is in glass bottles.
