Reuse of water bottles
Encyclopedia
Reusing water bottles is the practice of refilling and reuse
of plastic or glass water bottle
s designed for one use, with tap water for multiple uses.
Reusing single-use bottles is a common domestic practice. Typically the bottle is washed out with warm soapy water after each use. Periodically a bleach solution may be employed to kill bacteria. Washing and re-using bottles cuts down on waste
and landfill
, and drinking tap water is much less resource-intensive than buying commercially bottled water
.
New Zealand Food Safety Authority Recommends the concept of using plastic bottles only once; not for carcinogenic reasons, but for matters of bacteria. Mouth contact to the bottle openings can easily transfer bacteria to the water content which can subsequently contaminate both bottle and water. The contamination will result in bacterial and fungal growth in the water while kept in storage except if you cleaned the bottle very well before reuse .
(BPA) can be a concern for some bottles made of polycarbonate
(which shares resin identification code
7 with other plastics). High temperatures and bleaching are believed to increase leaching of BPA. Several countries have banned the use of plastics containing BPA used for water and other food items.
Leaching of phthalates from PVC
(resin identification code
3) is also a concern, but PVC is not typically used for water bottles.
From about.com:
"Health advocates also recommend not reusing bottles made from plastic #1 (polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET or PETE), including most disposable water, soda and juice bottles. According to The Green Guide, such bottles may be safe for one-time use, but re-use should be avoided because studies indicate they may leach DEHA—another probable human carcinogen—when they are in less-than-perfect condition." The website for the American Cancer Society contradicts this.
DEHA is neither regulated nor classified as a human carcinogen by the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration, the National Toxicology Program or the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the leading authorities on carcinogenic substances.
In 1991, on the basis of very limited data, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classified DEHA as a "possible human carcinogen." However, in 1995, EPA again evaluated the science and concluded that "...overall, the evidence is too limited to establish that DEHA is likely to cause cancer."
Further, DEHA is not inherent in PET as a raw material, byproduct or decomposition product. DEHA is a common plasticizer that is used in innumerable plastic items, many of which are found in the laboratory. For this reason, the student’s detection of DEHA is likely to have been the result of inadvertent lab contamination. This is supported by the fact that DEHA was detected infrequently (approximately 6% of the samples) and randomly, meaning that the frequency of detection bore no relationship to the test conditions.
Moreover, DEHA has been cleared by FDA for food-contact applications and would not pose a health risk even if it were present. The American Cancer Society has suggested that there is no risk from DEHA in plastic bottles.
Finally, in June 2003, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research conducted a scientific study of migration in new and reused plastic water bottles from three countries. The Swiss study did not find DEHA at concentrations significantly above the background levels detected in distilled water, indicating DEHA was unlikely to have migrated from the bottles. The study concluded that the levels of DEHA were distinctly below the World Health Organization guidelines for safe drinking water.
Reuse
To reuse is to use an item more than once. This includes conventional reuse where the item is used again for the same function, and new-life reuse where it is used for a different function. In contrast, recycling is the breaking down of the used item into raw materials which are used to make new...
of plastic or glass water bottle
Water bottle
A water bottle is a container used to hold water for consumption. This allows an individual to transport or carry the bottled water from one place to another. A water bottle is usually made of plastic, glass, or metal, and so most can be recycled. Water bottles can be single use, returnable, or...
s designed for one use, with tap water for multiple uses.
Reusing single-use bottles is a common domestic practice. Typically the bottle is washed out with warm soapy water after each use. Periodically a bleach solution may be employed to kill bacteria. Washing and re-using bottles cuts down on waste
Waste
Waste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...
and landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
, and drinking tap water is much less resource-intensive than buying commercially bottled water
Bottled water
Bottled water is drinking water packaged in plastic or glass water bottles. Bottled water may be carbonated or not...
.
Bacterial concerns
The biggest risk for reusing bottles is that bacteria could develop in the bottle between uses. Thus some elect to clean the interior with warm/hot soapy water and let it fully dry before re-filling.New Zealand Food Safety Authority Recommends the concept of using plastic bottles only once; not for carcinogenic reasons, but for matters of bacteria. Mouth contact to the bottle openings can easily transfer bacteria to the water content which can subsequently contaminate both bottle and water. The contamination will result in bacterial and fungal growth in the water while kept in storage except if you cleaned the bottle very well before reuse .
Other chemicals of concern
Bisphenol ABisphenol A
Bisphenol A is an organic compound with two phenol functional groups. It is used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, along with other applications....
(BPA) can be a concern for some bottles made of polycarbonate
Polycarbonate
PolycarbonatePhysical PropertiesDensity 1.20–1.22 g/cm3Abbe number 34.0Refractive index 1.584–1.586FlammabilityV0-V2Limiting oxygen index25–27%Water absorption – Equilibrium0.16–0.35%Water absorption – over 24 hours0.1%...
(which shares resin identification code
Resin identification code
The SPI resin identification coding system is a set of symbols placed on plastics to identify the polymer type. It was developed by the Society of the Plastics Industry in 1988, and is used internationally....
7 with other plastics). High temperatures and bleaching are believed to increase leaching of BPA. Several countries have banned the use of plastics containing BPA used for water and other food items.
Leaching of phthalates from PVC
PVC
Polyvinyl chloride is a plastic.PVC may also refer to:*Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military honor*Peripheral venous catheter, a small, flexible tube placed into a peripheral vein in order to administer medication or fluids...
(resin identification code
Resin identification code
The SPI resin identification coding system is a set of symbols placed on plastics to identify the polymer type. It was developed by the Society of the Plastics Industry in 1988, and is used internationally....
3) is also a concern, but PVC is not typically used for water bottles.
From about.com:
"Health advocates also recommend not reusing bottles made from plastic #1 (polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET or PETE), including most disposable water, soda and juice bottles. According to The Green Guide, such bottles may be safe for one-time use, but re-use should be avoided because studies indicate they may leach DEHA—another probable human carcinogen—when they are in less-than-perfect condition." The website for the American Cancer Society contradicts this.
DEHA is neither regulated nor classified as a human carcinogen by the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration, the National Toxicology Program or the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the leading authorities on carcinogenic substances.
In 1991, on the basis of very limited data, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classified DEHA as a "possible human carcinogen." However, in 1995, EPA again evaluated the science and concluded that "...overall, the evidence is too limited to establish that DEHA is likely to cause cancer."
Further, DEHA is not inherent in PET as a raw material, byproduct or decomposition product. DEHA is a common plasticizer that is used in innumerable plastic items, many of which are found in the laboratory. For this reason, the student’s detection of DEHA is likely to have been the result of inadvertent lab contamination. This is supported by the fact that DEHA was detected infrequently (approximately 6% of the samples) and randomly, meaning that the frequency of detection bore no relationship to the test conditions.
Moreover, DEHA has been cleared by FDA for food-contact applications and would not pose a health risk even if it were present. The American Cancer Society has suggested that there is no risk from DEHA in plastic bottles.
Finally, in June 2003, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research conducted a scientific study of migration in new and reused plastic water bottles from three countries. The Swiss study did not find DEHA at concentrations significantly above the background levels detected in distilled water, indicating DEHA was unlikely to have migrated from the bottles. The study concluded that the levels of DEHA were distinctly below the World Health Organization guidelines for safe drinking water.
Further reading
- Oliphant, J.A., M.C. Ryan, and A. Chu, 2002. Bacterial Water Quality in the Personal Water Bottles of Elementary Students’. Canadian Journal of Public Health. 93(5):366-367.
- Hill, Ian, 2008. Dining out, Traveling about, and Drinking Water. Waterbottlepeople.com Website.
- Hill, Ian, 2008. What is the Water Bottle People.com Blog all about? Waterbottlepeople.com Website.