I hear the phrase “that is so bad for you” every day. Leaving a plastic water bottle in the sun is bad for you, antiperspirant deodorant is bad for you, cellphones cause cancer, and be sure not to dye your hair because it will get you sick. And by sick I mean get sick with cancer. How many times have you heard “that causes cancer”?

Here are the explanations for these myths, or truths, that so many people repeat. Lets get to the bottom of this…

Leaving plastic bottles in the sun makes the water inside toxic- The plastic in water bottles contains a chemical substance called bisphenol A- or BPA. Some studies with rats have suggested leaving the water bottle in the sun releases this chemical into the water. When the rats drank that water there were some effects in the animals’ brain and reproductive organ development.

Another concern regarding water bottles being left in the sun is it develops bacteria. This could potentially be true because heat can accelerate bacteria growth.

Unilever

Antiperspirants cause breast cancer- The problematic substance in antiperspirants is aluminum. Some studies have shown aluminum is directly linked with cancer. There is no clear proof, however, that antiperspirants cause cancer.

The aluminum is the substance that makes the deodorant antiperspirant. The percentage of aluminum can range from 9% to 24% depending on how strong it is. It clogs your sweat glands so that the sweat does not escape and you are kept dry. In any case, this does not sound like beneficial to your body…

A 2005 publication on Journal of Inorganic Chemestry said aluminum had estrogen like properties. Alterations in hormones like estrogen have been shown to play a factor in breast cancer. The breast cancer tumors are located on the outer edge of the breast, near the arm pit. The scientific community is not all in one page with this one either though.

Cell phones cause cancer- I remember when I got my first phone when I was 17. It looked like a black brick with thick buttons that could have only looked good at that point in time. My mom used to tell me not to stay on the phone too long because “the radiation” was bad for me. At the moment I thought she said that because the cost of the phone call increased every minute I was on the phone, but I later found out she was serious… Although what was more surprising was to find out my mom was not the only one who thought that.

There are no conclusive studies that suggest cell phones, or any other type of electronic- cause cancer. Some studies have suggested a link between a rare type of brain tumor and the use of cell phones but it is open to interpretation. The consensus among experts is there is no relation between cancer and cell phones which would make this claim a myth… at least until proven otherwise.

The same thing goes for microwaves. Microwaves emit low-frequency radiation, not ionizing radiation (this one is bad!) used in X-rays, for example, that do conclusively increase the risk of cancer.

Francisco Osorio from Santiago, Chile