Re-using water bottles?

Question

People always says not to keep on re-using water bottles because they're bad for you. But what makes them bad for you and what will happen to you if you keep on re-using them?

Answer 1

ew! i just looked it up on google and i'm really grossed out now lol. read from these links.

http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ealerts/ea20...

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2178....

http://walking.about.com/od/fluids/f/reu...

if you want more links, go to google and type in "reusing water bottles is bad"

hope this helped!

Answer 2

Bacteria in your mouth stays on the bottle if you drink from it.

It will multiply if you don't wash the top of the bottle in soap and water.

Answer 3

the plastic contains toxins... that is eventually exposed to the water.

Answer 4

I think they can get germy....but just wash em.

Answer 5

If you are talking about water you buy in bottles, don't reuse those bottles. There are chemicals from the plastic which will leach out.

If you want to get a refillable water bottle, get one out of stainless steel.

Answer 6

Hmmm... these days it seems that many people are very thirsty, habitually re-filling water bottles and carrying them around town, to the gym, and to work. Your question offers an opportunity to learn a bit more about the safety issues involved.

A little research has turned up two opinion groups:

    * the refillers

    * the non-refillers (represented, in particular, by the International Bottled Water Association, an organization that represents the interest of companies that sell bottled water).

The refillers say that washing and re-using water bottles is safe, particularly if they are washed regularly with hot, soapy water. Many advocate for an occasional swish with a diluted bleach solution to kill any stubborn bacteria and eliminate that "old water" smell that sometimes develops. In terms of frequency, you'd want to assess your own comfort while also keeping hygiene in mind. For example, cups, glasses, and other tableware are usually washed after each use — with good reason. Also, if you've had a cold, cold sore, or any other condition, washing your bottle daily can help eliminate re-infecting yourself. If you're a lip gloss or lipstick wearer, you may have also noticed that your bottle has been marked with your signature color. A little scrub around the neck might not be a bad idea once in a while!

In addition, refillers are often advocates for the environment. Washing and re-using those bottles might help to cut down on waste and landfill. The jury's still out, however, about which is worse: contributing to landfill, or using natural resources for the washing and adding detergents to our water supply. In many places, plastic bottles are recyclable. As an aside, if you are worrying about the quality of tap versus bottled water, know that city tap water is actually more regulated than bottled water, and thus may contain fewer contaminants or impurities than some bottled water.

Those in the non-refilling camp state that only bottles specifically made to be reused should be refilled. For starters, they say that all kinds of bacteria can thrive in made-to-be-disposed bottles, even after washing. Wear and tear on the bottle can form cracks that can harbor bacteria. An additional concern is that harmful chemicals can leach out of single-use plastic bottles and into your drinking water. Chemically speaking, the plastics used to make single-use bottles are not designed to stand up to washing. Therefore, the heat from wash water — either from hand washing or machine washing (and possibly also from the detergents used) — can degrade the plastic of the bottles, increasing the likelihood of chemical leaching.

There is still much research that needs to be done to determine the significance of leaching from plastics used for water bottles; however, there are people concerned with the chemical bisphenol A. This chemical is an endocrine (the body's hormonal system) disruptor and is typically found in plastic bottles made of polycarbonate (which bear the number 7 and the letters "PC"). Bleach, harsh detergents, and high temperatures (like those found in a dishwasher) may increase the amount of bisphenol A leaching. It is still unknown how much bisphenol A people are actually exposed to when they use polycarbonate bottles, and what level of exposure (if any) is safe.

As an alternative, you might want to try purchasing a bottle made especially for multiple uses. Many popular plastic-ware brands now market water bottle designs, some with handy foldable straws, attached insulation, belt clips, and the like. Additionally, check out your local camping store for bottles designed with daily wear-and-tear (and certainly years of re-use) in mind. If you are concerned about chemical leaching, be aware that some reusable plastic-ware brands are made with polycarbonate and have been caught up in the controversy. An alternative is to use reusable polyethelene (marked with the number 2), stainless steel, or enamel-lined aluminum water bottles, which are not known to leach chemicals into your drinking water. These types of bottles are typically found in camping stores.

Just to put things into perspective, experts say that you should be more concerned with the bacterial contaminants in your water due to lack of washing/poor hygiene rather than chemical leaching, especially since studies have produced inconclusive results

Answer 7

I sure you can still use them.

Providing you wash them out with soap & hot water

once in a while to sterilize it from bacteria and germs.

However, certain water bottles in store which are plastic, some

are thinner in the skin than others.

These will work for a while until you get a hole in

the bottle.

Answer 8

I cant remeber the chemical name that gets into your system..but i was listeing to radio one day and basically they said it cause cancer  in your body over along period of time but...its just not bottles  any type of plastic is the same danger to us...but  the chemical only becomes active when you heat or wash the plastic in hot water or use it in the microwave.that is the danger the heat makes it active ..if u wash it in luke warm water its ok apparantlley its ok..you can use the bottles and plastics...they said ..if u dont heat them.

Answer 9

Ironically for those "people," the opposite is true. The new plastic was outgassing yucky stuff, and the old plastic is less toxic once the outgassing subsides.

On the other hand, ultraviolet light and exposure to volatile hydrocarbons will break down the hydrocarbons in the plastic, making yucky stuff.

Either way, the exposure is much less than that you get from automobiles, power plants, and industries.

So, the answer is to re-use bottles several times, but after a bottle starts to age, for example after a few months, we should send it off to a recycler. Don't be sad to say goodbye to this good friend; plastics weren't made to last forever.

Thus, we can get 10-50 uses out of a bottle that most people would just use once, making our investment in the bottle much more worth it.