Is it safe to reuse water bottles?I read a few years ago that reusing plastic water bottles again and again can cause the plastic to break down and release carcinogens Carcinogens Substances in the environment that cause cancer, presumably by inducing mutations, with prolonged exposure. Mentioned in: Colon Cancer, Rectal Cancer into your drink. Is this true? Martin Kane Chester, NY Most beverage containers sold in the United States are made from polyethylene terephthalate Ter`eph´tha`late n. 1. (Chem.) A salt of terephthalic acid. (PET). PET has been thoroughly tested for safety and is widely used for soft drinks, water, fruit juice, and many other applications. The FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. has determined that PET meets standards for food contact as described in the code of federal regulations The New Deal program of legislation enacted during the administration of President franklin roosevelt established a large number of new federal agencies, which generated a shapeless and confusing mass of new regulations. . PET is approved for direct food contact for both single use, long term storage, and repeated use. This is based on extensive testing of the migration potential of PET and the safety of the other ingredients with which the bottles are made. Addressing reuse, PET is chemically resistant to common detergents and cleaning agents. It does not break down when exposed to these solutions. The same holds true for other common packaging resins. They are also examined with the same scrutiny before the FDA deems them safe for food contact. As such, there is no scientific basis for the statement that repeated reuse and washing of plastic from sports drinks can cause the plastic to break down and potentially release a carcinogen carcinogen: see cancer. carcinogen Agent that can cause cancer. Exposure to one or more carcinogens, including certain chemicals, radiation, and certain viruses, can initiate cancer under conditions not completely understood. . Back in November of 2003 there was a myth circulating that a graduate student's thesis at the University of Idaho The university was formed by the territorial legislature of Idaho on January 30, 1889, and opened its doors on October 3, 1892 with an initial class of 40 students. The first graduating class in 1896 contained two men and two women. showed that DEHA DEHA Di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate DEHA Diethylhydroxylamine DEHA Delaware Healthcare Association DEHA Desulfitobacterium Hafniense DEHA Disabled Employees Health Assistance (Missouri) , a plastics additive, was a human carcinogen that could be released from a PET container. In fact, DEHA is not inherent in PET as a raw material, nor is it a decomposition product. Furthermore, DEHA has been cleared by the FDA for food contact applications and would not pose a health risk even if it were present. A review found that DEHA in the plastic items used in the laboratory was the likely source of the contamination in the study. The information about the dangers of water bottle reuse that was circulated back in 2003 was found to be baseless, but nevertheless continues to pop up from time to time. Bob Murray, PhD Director, Gatorade Sports Science Institute |
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