Water from a plastic bottle may be more dangerous than you think. One danger is the possible, eventual cost of ingesting the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, implicated in causing cancer and other illnesses. Another danger is your contribution to vast quantities of environmental waste that may persist unchanged for many years. Also, plastic bottles are made from petrochemicals, which present economic dangers.
Chemical Danger
The chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, is a hardener added to plastic to increase its durability. It is used in many plastics, including water bottles, baby bottles and food can liners, according to a report published in 2008 by the American Nursing Association, or ANA. In their opinion expressing opposition to its use, the ANA cites the National Toxicology Program, an arm of the National Institutes of Health, NIH, as expressing "some concern" over such uses of BPA, referring to the possibility of toxic and carcinogenic effects. However, Helena Bottemiller, a journalist in Washington, D.C., who reports widely on food policy and regulations, wrote in "Food Safety News" for April 28, 2010, that the NIH and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are not slated to complete toxicology tests until 2012 to 2013.
Potential danger from BPA-treated plastic water bottles, though not universally accepted, has moved many consumers to consider the risk as a real danger. If you are concerned, BPA-free plastics are often so labeled, and an inexpensive, easy-to-use home testing kit for BPA is available from Home Health Chemistry if you are unsure.
Environmental Danger
California's Department of Environmental Conservation, DEC, reports that, as of 2003, 1 billion plastic water bottles per year entered the state's landfills. As a way to relate that quantity to everyday realities, the amount is described as sufficient to manufacture 74 million square feet of synthetic fiber carpet. Plastic water bottles are poorly biodegradable, so much of the landfill plastic is ultimately burned. The DEC in California warns that an unknown but large amount of toxic smoke is continually added to the atmosphere from plastic water bottles.
Economic Danger
The Environmental Protection Agency reports that all plastic manufacturing--aside from the relatively small percentage made by recycling old plastic--is dependent on petroleum as the natural resource starting point. Earth911 states that in 2010, 70 percent of plastics originate from domestic natural gas, a petrochemical substance in good supply, but, like petroleum, not infinitely renewable. If foreign petroleum sources decrease or become unstable, upward price pressure may occur and limit resources available to the U.S. plastics industry. This could force plastic prices higher, shrink supply and present an economic danger to plastic suppliers and users. Plastic water bottles--2,500,000 of which are used in the U.S. every hour, according to CleanAir.org--consume large quantities of petrochemicals, representing a drain on the raw material supply chain, increasing the economic vulnerability of all industries relying on this resource.
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