Wherever I can, I use tap water instead of bottled. For most flights, I'll carry my empty bottle through security and fill it up on the other side. Airports with bottle filling stations are my favorite. I've even filled my water bottle up with tap water from the Flint airport (I was assured the water was safe) . Over the holidays, I left my trusty nalgene bottle at my family home. As I'll be able to pick it up the next time I visit home, I saw no need to buy a new one. Until then, I'll just be using the near identical bottle I keep with my camping gear. In fact, there is only one major difference between the two bottles. The new one is "BPA free", while the old one most definitely has BPA. Since I planned to use this bottle for the next month, I decided to take a second look at BPA.
Time for a little chemistry
Chemistry has never been my favorite subject (I prefer physics), but it pops up often in my work as a materials engineer. I don't work with food grade plastics, so I had to do a little reading. BPA stands for Bisphenol A (chemical formula (CH3)2C(C6H4OH)2 ). BPA is the most common member of the bisphenol family. Bisphenols are chemical compounds with two two hydroxyphenyl functionalities [1]. All that means is that bisphenols have two functional groups to bond with other organic compounds.
BPA can also be used on thermal paper (think receipts) and also the epoxy resin liner for can and food pouches. Unlike the BPA used in polycarbonate [2], thermal paper contains unpolymerized BPA. This means that tiny amounts of BPA can be directly transmitted to your skin [3]. Overall, about 2.5 billion pounds of BPA are used each year in the U.S. alone! About 5% of that amount ends up in food contact [4].
Is BPA really that bad?
Based on some government reports and news articles from 2008 - 2010, BPA got a lot of bad press. Because BPA has a similar structure to estrogen, agencies were concerned about the health consequences of high BPA levels. BPA can leach out of the bottle, especially with hot liquids. However, there never really was a clear link establishing BPA to any health issues in people. In 2015, the European Food Safety Authority actually published a statement that current BPA levels posed no health risk [5]. Also, plastics manufacturers simply switched to a different bisphenol to replace BPA. Many are now using the very similar bisphenol S and slapping a "BPA Free" sticker on their products [6].
The solution
Based on my reading, I don't really see a difference between using my old or new water bottles. Ultimately, I would like to move away from plastic altogether. I have switched from plastic food containers to glass. I now do most of my cooking on cast iron instead of nonstick pans. I have tried using a stainless steel bottle in the past and did not like the poor insulation and metallic taste. If you have a recommendation for a bottle that you like, please let me know in the comments.
Read an article on here suggesting one drink out of copper. I will try and find the link.
Interesting. The only thing I have ever drank out of copper are Moscow Mules.
I'll be interested to see that link too. My current understanding is that copper overload is comparatively common, and a copper bottle would make that worse.
Here is the link for drinking from copper vessel
https://steemit.com/life/@codydeeds/why-i-drink-water-from-a-copper-vessel
Good question. A site that sells copper drinking mugs (http://copperdrinkingmugs.com/are-copper-mugs-safe-to-drink-from/) recommends using a copper mug lined with steel or nickel. Unlined copper mugs should not be used with acidic or hot beverages. I guess I'll stick with my glass cups.
Here is the link for drinking from copper vessel
https://steemit.com/life/@codydeeds/why-i-drink-water-from-a-copper-vessel
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Nice job writing a bit about Bisphenol A, there are a number of issues which have been observed to be derived from it's exposure. BPA has been reported to both directly cause DNA damage (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090989615000120) and prevent repair process initiation on sites of DNA damage at guanine (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25693136). Thank you for writing this up, using a BPA free water bottle is a good thing (or at the very least, not a bad idea). Many people may not even know about this compound.
As a bonus, and in addition to resteeming for exposure. We are awarding you a small 10 Steem Power deposit as a thank you for creating quality STEM related postings on Steemit. We hope you will continue to educate us all!
Thank you!
I appreciate that you posted open access journal articles. Not having easy access to subscriptions can be frustrating. I also like the idea of sharing STEM focused posts. Followed.
As vir wrote, bpa free may mean it has bps. Is bps really better for us?
Glass is best but breaks to easily.
Metals may add bad flavor or worse. (Rich people used to die from tomatoes because they used lead containers.)
Silver seems to be healthy for us and helps kill bacteria.
Any suggestions or advice?
I don't suspect that BPS is better, there still appear to be a number of pharmacological effects (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27685785) it is certainly different, the structure of the molecule itself is different so it should not function in the same fashion as BPA has already been shown to work (ie it won't bind to all of the same enzymes in the same way). Perhaps it would be good to research into some non BPS plastic water bottles?
Silver is most certainly not a good alternative, there are large issues with toxicity. For something such as a water bottle this would be a concern.
I use a stainless steel water bottle personally. Iron is safe.
Thank you for your wisdom. Life sure is complicated and with so many dangers.
Maybe a genius will invent a portable way to store or extract hydrogen that can be oxidized into pure water. Future dreams...
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I use BPA-free water bottles (Nalgene being my preference). A few years ago, I purchased a ProPur water filer (yes, the ones promoted by Infowars). After filtering, I store the water in BPA-free gallon jugs in my refrigerator. I am very pleased with the taste of the water, and I am drinking more than a gallon per day.
Here's a link if you're interested in the filters: https://www.propurusa.com