Is it okay to refill a water bottle if the bottle says not to but the American Cancer Society says it's okay?

Question

The water bottle says not to refill. The American Cancer Society says it's okay. Can I refill it? Please have a source with your answer. Thanks in advanced.

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/MED/content/MED_6_1x_Reusing_Plastic_Water_Bottles.asp?sitearea=MED

Answer 1

The company making the water bottle and the ACS are addressing two different issues.

The water bottle may well carry a warning about refilling, but this is not connected to cancer.

The warning given on the bottle is about germs, and it's correct - the plastic bottles are difficult to clean and may harbour germs.

The ACS's comments will be about cancer - an assurance that refilling plastic water bottles is NOT a cancer risk.

There are a number of myths circulating about plastic water bottles causing cancer. Most  of them have been started by  hoax emails and many of those emails, as the link you provide shows, quote a student's college thesis, although they usually claim to quote - or even come from - Johns Hopkins University.

These links give the facts behind the various rumours/hoaxes about plastic water bottles and cancer:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/pet...

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/plastic-cance...

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/medical...

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/coo...

Note this quote from one of these links:

''According to Dr. Rolf Halden of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, consumers face a much greater risk from potential exposure to microbial contaminants in bottled water -- germs, to you and me -- than from chemical ones. For that reason, most experts suggest not refilling or reusing empty bottles. ''

So - if you refill and reuse plastic water bottles you may get an upset stomach, but you won't get cancer from doing so

Answer 2

Cancer is not only the big thing about refilling water bottles.

Plastic waterbottles are lovely environments for germs, and the nalgene bottles are a lot better at keeping the germs out.  It's recommended you not reuse these water bottles unless you clean them out properly, which no one really does.  

Answer 3

You mean like the bottled water you buy?

I think it's fine to refill it for a day or two. But you really can't clean the bottles adequately, and/or to clean them adequately, would compromise the integrity of the plastic and potentially cause leaching of chemicals.

Better to buy a more durable fillable bottle at Target/Walmart, Rubbermaid makes some good ones made of safe plastic.

Answer 4

I've had cancer before but I know that if ACS says it doesn't then it doesn't. Who know more about cancer than the ACS?