A 2009 study from the Harvard School of Public Health revealed that participants who drank for a week from bottles containing BPA showed an increase of two-thirds of BPA in their urine.
Medical News Today explains that BPA, or Bisphenol A, is a chemical found in hard plastics and the coatings of food and drink cans that can behave in a similar way to estrogen and other types of hormones in the human body.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences released a study that indicates BPA can cause adverse effects, such as obesity, behavioral changes, diabetes, early onset puberty, asthma, cardiovascular diseases and even cancer.
This chemical is an endocrine disruptor – it is a substance that interferes with the production, secretion, transport, action, function and elimination of natural hormones, according to medicalnewstoday.com.
Although there are studies that support BPA ingestion at lower levels, many are turning to reusable water bottles to avoid the dangers of ingestion.
According to Webmd.com, women are recommended to take in roughly nine cups of water per day; men are recommended to take in 12.5 cups per day. This amount does vary based on lifestyle choices and living conditions.
The average person typically turns to plastic water bottles in order to drink enough water, but with the recent findings released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, more and more people are turning to reusable water bottles made of BPA-free plastic and even metal to decrease the ingestion of
this harmful chemical.
Safe alternatives to plastic water bottles include reusable bottles made of stainless steel, glass and some types of aluminum. Stainless steel is preferable, as it is durable and unbreakable; it does not leak and does not cause the contents to taste like metal. Glass, though safe, is easily broken. Aluminum is questionable, as most types of bottles have epoxy resin linings, also known to leak.
Not only are reusable water bottles safer for water consumption, they also help prevent one of the largest causes of today’s pollution.
The National Geographic reports that plastic bottles use a lot of fossil fuels and pollute the environment.
Earth911.com reports that Americans buy more bottled water than any other nation, adding up to approximately 25 billion water bottles a year. That same article estimates that by switching from plastic water bottles to reusable water bottles, approximately 200 millions pounds of plastic would be eliminated from landfills.
Plastic water bottles are not only harmful for the environment, but they are also potentially harmful to your health.
