Forwarded message warns women not to drink bottled water that has been left in a car for any length of time because, supposedly, the heat releases cancer-causing toxins which 'leak' from the plastic into the water.
Description: Email rumor
Circulating since: April 2007 (this version)
Status: False as written / Scientific research is ongoing
Example:
Email text contributed by Jori M., April 22, 2007:
Subj: Drinking Bottled Water Kept in Car...a friend whose mother recently got diagnosed with breast cancer. The doctor told her women should not drink bottled water that has been left in a car. The doctor said that the heat and the plastic of the bottle have certain chemicals that can lead to breast cancer. So please be careful and do not drink that water bottle that has been left in a car and pass this on to all the women in your life.
This information is the kind we need to know and be aware and just might save us!!!!
*The heats causes toxins from the plastic to leak into the water and they have found these toxins in breast tissue. Use a stainless steel canteen or a glass bottle when you can*!
Update (2009): A new European study raises concerns about the safety of disposable water bottles, which have heretofore (see discussion below) been regarded as safe by the FDA and other government health agencies. Researchers in Germany found evidence of a man-made estrogen-like compound leaching into water packaged in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.
Such chemicals, known as "endocrine disruptors," have the potential to interfere with estrogen and other reproductive hormones in the human body.
Please note that the authors of the study say more research is required to determine whether, or to what degree, this poses an actual health risk to humans.
Read more:
• PET Bottles Potential Health Hazard - ABC News (Australia)
• Hormone-mimics In Plastic Water Bottles Act As Functional Estrogens - Science Daily
Analysis of email (2007): False as written, though research is ongoing (per update above). In the United States, plastic bottles of the type used for commercially marketed water are regulated by the FDA as "food contact substances" and held to the same safety standards as food additives.
This means, among other things, that the FDA has reviewed test data on the safety of the plastics used in water bottles — including the potential for hazardous chemicals leaching or "migrating" from the plastic into the water — and established that they pose no significant risk to human health. The water itself is also tested and must meet basic quality standards similar to those set by the Environmental Protection Agency for public drinking water.
Please note that the plastic used in the manufacture of pre-packaged, disposable water bottles is different from those believed to pose a human health threat in other applications, such as baby bottles, plastic children's toys, and reusable sports water bottles. For example, disposable water bottles don't contain bisphenol A (BPA), about which human safety concerns have been raised.
That's not to say that bottled water is absolutely free of contaminants, nor that chemical leaching never takes place. Studies done on water bottled in FDA-approved polyethylene terephthalate (PET), for example, did find trace amounts of potentially hazardous substances believed to have migrated from the plastic. The important point to take away, however, is that these amounts were minuscule and well within the safety limits set by FDA and EPA regulators.
According to Dr. Rolf Halden of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, consumers face a much greater risk from potential exposure to microbial contaminants in bottled water — germs, to you and me — than from chemical ones. For that reason, most experts suggest not refilling or reusing empty bottles.
It should also be noted that the plastics used in the manufacturer of reusable water bottles vary in composition and quality and may be more susceptible to chemical leaching.
Note on Sheryl Crow: Another version of this message contains the additional claim that pop singer Sheryl Crow announced during a 2006 appearance on the Ellen Degeneres TV show that she got breast cancer as a result of drinking bottled water. While it is true that she discussed her bout with cancer on that show and, among other things, cautioned viewers against drinking water from heated plastic bottles, my understanding is that she did not directly attribute her own cancer to that cause. On September 1, 2006 she issued a similar warning in a statement on her official website but, again, did not specifically claim that bottled water was the cause of her own illness.
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Sources and further reading:
Bottled Water Regulation and the FDA
Food Safety Magazine, August-September 2002To Reuse or Not to Reuse Plastic Bottles: Is There a Question?
Research News You Can Use, Univ. of Florida, 2004Migration of Organic Components from PET Bottles to Water
Swiss Federal Laboratories, 20 June 2003FAQ: The Safety of Plastic Beverage Bottles
PlasticsInfo.org (American Chemistry Council, an industry source)Does Freezing / Microwaving Plastic Containers Release Dioxin?
Urban Legends, 12 December 2005Microwave Ovens, Plastic Wrap, and Dioxin
Urban Legends, 5 November 2004Researcher Dispels Myth of Dioxins and Plastic Water Bottles
Johns Hopkins Public Health News Center, 24 June 2004
Last updated: 05/07/09
