Avoid plastic water bottle, all plastics have adverse effects. How to tell which plastic is relatively safe ?

Plastics are inevitable

Whatever exposure levels are prescribed by these Food Safety Authorities on plastic chemicals, we cannot base our lives or the next generations’ on them. While they suggest that there could be stable plastics which could be made but then it will mean disruption of the big plastic industry.

We cannot expect the plastic industry to just stop whatever they are doing and start making plastics which are really stable and have ‘NO’ side effect water bottle – just plain water in and plain water out !

My favorite water bottle

For wanting a cool and sturdy water bottle I saved the time of researching and went ahead with the well considered wirecutter reviews. Searching for the ‘Best Water Bottle’ on Wirecutter I found one sleek and BPA Free plastic water bottle with cool one handed operation.

Thus I soon ordered on Amazon and got the Thermos Intak Hydration Bottle made of Eastman Tritan copolyester which is a BPA free plastic. Though I like its ruggedness and usability after doing a bit of research on plastics, BPA and its health effects I was saddened that I have to part with this adorable water bottle and have to look for the metal/glass ones due to plastics adverse effects on health. Have provided excerpts of what I found on this important subject:

Note that I still consider and recommend wirecutter and sweethome reviews which are well researched and exhaustively tested for usability.

Excerpts and Links you must read:

How to tell which plastic is (relatively) safe ?

Look for the recycling triangle icon which can help you indicate the plastic resin type and thus toxicity of its chemical. The Resin Identification Code 2, 4 and 5 are “relatively” safe and as shown:

This code, used to facilitate recycling, is found in almost all the plastics, be it for packing processed foods and drinks (your Toothpaste, Coca-Cola/Pepsi, Packaged water, Juice drinks, Tomato/Mayonnaise Sauce, etc) Or plastic bottles, containers and wraps bought for home use.

So next time at the mall look for this shape on the plastic you buy. Plastics with the resin code 2, 4 and 5 are relatively safe; yet studies have shown them to be toxins with adverse effects. Want to know what relatively safe means, read this page on various plastic types and their toxicity – How can I tell what type of plastic is safe ?

Is BPA-Free safer ? May Not.

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA or USFDA) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), initially had a safer stand on BPA for current exposure levels but have started to show negative remarks on BPA. US FDA banned it from baby products and containers while EU (European Union), giving BPA a SVHC status (Substance of Very High Concern) is on the verge of restricting the restricting the chemicals import. Refer BPA on Wikipedia, especially the adverse health effects

According to these independent tests conducted on BPA-Free plastics in this paper: Plastic Bottles containing BPA-Free chemicals (Copolyester, Other Polycarbonates producing BPS, BPF, etc) sometimes have more estrogenic activity (EA) than BPA plastics, producing adverse health effects especially at low doses in younger people and kids.