Finding the Right Reusable Water Bottle for you

What is the right bottle for you? Do you like metal, plastic, aluminum, or stainless steel? Do you even care? I want to present a few reasons why you should care what product you decide on. There are several factors when choosing the right material such as name-brand, the quality of the product, and the potential health risks. Yes, you read that right. Potential health risks are something to consider when examining these products. The main focus of this article to be the material of the water bottle and the potential health risks. There is an interactive list of several types of water bottles presented by Dave Cornthwaite, and I recommend you examine this list. (https://medium.com/@DaveCorn/the-best-reusable-water-bottles-in-the-world-11bb04a079c6)There might be a water bottle that speaks to you, but I also suggest thinking about the material used for the bottle. There are bottles made of several types of plastic, glass, aluminum, and stainless steel. There are some materials that have come into question over the potential health risks. Some materials have come into question over the potential health risks.

Plastic Water Bottles: Material

I first want to discuss the plastic water bottles. There are several chemicals used to create a plastic bottle, but initially most plastic products were made from bisphenol A (BPA), until recently. The chemical BPA came into question about its toxic effects during the 1990s, but it was not until 2008 when Congress passed a law that would ban six types of phthalates from children’s products (2014). The issue of concern for BPA was the health effects it had, specifically as an endocrine-disrupter.The health risks and public opinion is what swayed some businesses to change the material they used. Some even went as far to create their own type of plastic. BPA and phthalates are considered an endocrine-disrupting chemical.

BPA: What is it?

The reason to keep a look out for products containing these is because these chemicals have been found to have a link to certain health risks. Most of these studies have been done on mammals and only a limited number of studies done on humans. According to Vandenberg, in this study the authors examined several ways that BPA was present in humans. This is the amount of BPA present in humans and mammalian blood. The authors noticed that BPA is present in body fluids and tissues in children, pregnant women, and adults. They also noted that they found BPA in breast milk, the placenta, and the amniotic fluid (Vandenberg, 172). This shows that BPA can remain in the body tissues and fluids very an undetermined amount of time and can be passed to offspring. When examining the potential health risks, Johanna Rochester presents a review of literature. Rochester presents a table with some of her results from examining over fifty published studies. The table lists these major categories: fertility, male sexual function, sperm quality, sex hormone concentrations, endometrial disorders, polycystic ovary syndrome, breast cancer, miscarriage, birth weight problems, male genital abnormalities, neurobehavioral development, child asthma, premature puberty, type-2 diabetes, metabolic disease, cardiovascular disease, obesity, thyroid function, immune function, and epigenetics (Rochester, 134–138). There could be several other factors that contribute to the health risks, but Rochester goes on to explain in her article association with BPA and these health risks. Some of the health risks have a high association, while others only have some evidence of association.

Alternatives to BPA

Because of the discovery of the health risks from BPA, the next alternatives used were under scrutiny. Scientist tested PET, a type of plastic found in water bottles. They discovered that PET water bottles did expose estrogen to the snails that were in the experiment. Next, they looked at Phthalates or bisphenol S (BPS), which is similar to BPA and an alternative to BPA. They discovered that BPS still had the same health risks as BPA (2014). In Halden’s article he discussed that PET when combined with phthalates were problematic (2010). It seems that there should be further research and studies done to find the right plastic, but companies need to be open and willing to find the best alternative. The main concern was putting hot liquid in these bottles, since that is when the biggest concern was noticed in BPA. Heated liquids in plastic caused chemicals to leach into the liquid and was ingested by the consumer. There is also a concern when it comes to washing the bottle, using in high temperatures, or any time the bottle is exposed to temperatures that cause the chemicals to leach. I suggest you try to avoid anything with bisphenol A, better known as BPA. I also want to suggest avoiding anything with phthalates. It is important to mention that some studies mentioned by Puneet Kollipara were done with high doses since scientist are yet sure what low doses can result in. As I mentioned earlier that some companies are stepping up and trying to find alternatives to BPA such as Eastman, and the alternative plastic they created was Tritan. There is not much known about this chemical, but Eastman is trying to run tests to make sure that their product is safe. There was a study published by Guart, where he and other authors discuss polycarbonate and Tritan might be migrating plasticisers into water. In this article, the main point was to compare Tritan to the PC, since polycarbonate interacts with BPA. As a result, the authors were able to conclude that BPA was present in the Tritan and PC products. The authors also seemed to suggest that BPA might be present in some of these products due to the manufacturing process. Some Tritan products had no detection of BPA. It seems that there should be further research and studies done to find the right plastic, but companies need to be open and willing to find the best alternative.

Glass, Aluminum, and Stainless Steel Water Bottles

The next two types of water bottles, glass and aluminum/steel, did not have as much established research done as bottles made of plastic. The big issue for glass was the product breaking. Most glass bottles were made of borosilicate glass, which is commonly seen in glass products. This glass is microwave safe, but not recommended for stove-top use. According to Cornthwaite, glass is least likely to leach like plastic, but it is still possible aluminum. As for aluminum and steel water bottles, Raloff suggest that there might not have BPA like plastic water bottles, but rather a resin lining polymer. This liner is where there could be issue of concern (Raloff, 2011).

Something to Consider

The main concern is putting hot liquid in these bottles, since that is when the biggest concern was noticed in BPA products. Heating the liquid and plastic caused chemicals to leach into the liquid and was ingested by the consumer. There is also a concern when it comes to washing the bottle, using in high temperatures, or any time the bottle is exposed to temperatures that cause the chemicals to leach. Both BPA and phthalates are mostly seen in plastic water bottles, but there is some concern when examining the lining of some metal water bottles. There is not much established research when comparing metal and glass to plastic, but this might be something more preference. Most glass water bottles are made with borosilicate glass, which is seen in products like Pyrex. That means the glass is safe for microwave, but not recommended for stove-top use. As for metal bottles this could mean aluminum or stainless steel. When trying to narrow down find out if there is a lining in the bottle. Some metal water bottles have a resin lining polymer, where the main concern for products with this lining is when using hot liquids. Like BPA and phthalates, a resin lining polymer might leach chemicals into water when it is a hot liquid. There was an experiment done to see what happens when hot liquids are used in bottles with this lining. The experiment showed that there was BPA present in the water. This should concern you, since BPA is an endocrine disrupting chemical.

The Choice is Yours

Another thing to consider is the type of lid used. Some products listed in the Medium article by Cornthwaite, listed what type of lid, but did not include what it was made of for most of the products (2015). Taking this into consideration, the best product is a glass water bottle since it has the least hazard of leaching, then aluminum/steel bottles, and finally plastic bottles. Do not forget to consider the lining of your water bottles. Also consider is what type liquid is used in the bottle, cold is most ideal. Something that was discussed was how to clean and wash the bottle, but there was no proposed solution. In the end, the final decision is up to the consumer. I do not want you to run in fear and think there is no product for you, but rather just be more aware of what you are buying.

References

Blake, Mariah, (2014). The Scary new evidence of BPA-free plastics. Mother Jones. Retrieved from https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/03/tritan-certichem-eastman-bpa-free-plastic-safe/

Cooper, James E., Kendig, Eric L., & Belcher, Scott M. (October 2011). Assessment of bisphenol A released from reusable plastic, aluminum, and stainless-steel water bottles. Chemosphere, 85, 943–947. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.06.060

Cornthwaite, Dave, (January 9, 2015). The best reusable water bottles in the world. Medium.Retrieved from https://medium.com/@DaveCorn/the-best-reusable-water-bottles-in-the-world-11bb04a079c6

Eladak, S. M. et al. (2015). A new chapter in the bisphenol A story: Bisphenol S and bisphenol F are not safe alternatives to this compound. Fertility and Sterility, 103,11–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2014.11.005

Guart, A., Wagner, M., Mezquida, A., Lacorte, S., Oehlmann, J., & Borrell, A. (2013). Migration of plasticisers from Tritan and polycarbonate bottles and toxicological evaluation. Food Chemistry, 141, 373–380 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.02.129

Halden, Rolf U. (April 21, 2010). Plastics and health risks. Annual Review of Public Health, 21, 179–194. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.012809.103714

Kollipara, Puneet (September 28, 2015). Links between health problems and endocrine-disrupting chemicals now stronger, statement argues. Science.http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/09/links-between-health-problems-and-endocrine-disrupting-chemicals-now-stronger-statement

Raloff, Janet. (July 11, 2011). Metal water bottles may leach BPA. Science News. Retrieved from https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-public/metal-water-bottles-may-leach-bpa

Rochester, J. R. (2013). Bisphenol A and human health: A review of the literature. Reproductive Toxicology, 42, 132–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reprotox.2013.08.008

Vanderber, L. N., Hauser, R., Marcus, M., Olea, N. & Welshons, W. V. (2007). Human exposure to bisphenol A (BPA). Reproductive Toxicology, 24, 139–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reprotox.2007.07.010