Americans spend billions of dollars each year on commercial bottled water. People choose bottled water for many reasons including taste, convenience, as an alternative to other beverages or because of the perceived health benefits. However, the truth is that drinking bottled water regularly not only affects your health, but also places a heavy burden on the environment. Here’s a detailed explanation of the dangers of bottled water.
Drinking bottled water often can affect your health. Some of the hazards of drinking bottled water are as following:
- The bottled water encourages the growth of bacteria.
When you drink bottled water, you usually drink it directly to your mouth. At this time, harmful bacteria may enter the bottled water from your mouth. Bottled water is a very good environment for bacteria to thrive in, and it only takes a short amount of time for bacteria to thrive in it. When you drink water again, the bacteria may enter your body and reverse course. The Council for the Advancement of Environmental Works tested the 10 best brands of bottled water in the U.S. and found more than 200 contaminants, including bacteria and industrial chemicals. Forty-five percent of bottled water on the market does not come from natural springs or pure water as advertised, but from purified urban water or tap water. Polyester bottles used in bottled water often contain substances that can lead to chronic human poisoning, especially when the bottle is in a high temperature environment, or opened and not drunk in time, harmful substances can leach into the water which is harmful to the health.
- Bottled water may be poisoning to you.
If the bottled water is mixed with E. coli, the bacteria will multiply and then return to the human body which can easily cause the symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting. There may even be a fever, triggering acute gastroenteritis. Especially for people who like exercise, they usually have the habit of carrying bottled water with them. Fatigue caused by exercise may lead to a decrease in immunity in the short term, which is more likely to cause E. coli infection. For the driving people, they should not place mineral water in the car for too long after the sun exposure or long time stored in the hot and hot environment. Because it is prone to causing the bottle material aging and release toxic substances. If you drink such water for a long time, it can cause chronic poisoning.
- Bottled water causes oral disease.
If some candida bacteria invade into bottled water, it is likely to cause inflammation such as endometritis and keratitis. This inflammation can easily lead to large ulcers, which can cause long-lasting pain and have a serious impact on mood. It may even harm the oral mucosa and the oral defense system, and induce the generation of oral cancer. Some people have good oral habits, often gargle, if the use of these infected bacteria bottled water gargle, not only can not ensure their oral health, but will cause a series of oral diseases.
Bottled water places a heavy burden on the environment.
According to the survey, 86 percent of the plastic water bottles in the United States are disposed of as garbage. After incineration, toxic byproducts such as chlorine gas and residues containing heavy metals are produced. It would take 1,000 years to biodegrade in a landfill. In addition, the production, transportation and storage of bottled water cost manpower and material resources, which may lead to new pollution. Because most of the plastic in the ocean is in the form of tiny particles and bottom sediments, it’s hard to determine exactly the quantity, but most scientists estimate that 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into our oceans each year, out of an estimated 150 million tons currently in the oceans.
How to treat our drinking water properly?
Bottle water bottles are made of PET plastic which is light, transparent and resistant to breakage, but some scholars believe that this material produces a potential carcinogen called ethyl hexylamine (DEHA), and the heat can release toxic substances in the plastic into the water. In addition, antimony is the catalyst in the process of plastic water bottle production, the longer the water is put, the more antimony released in the bottle, and half a year will be doubled. Antimony has been shown to cause lung cancer, although its levels are still within World Health Organization guidelines. In order to ensure the health of the body, it is necessary to choose to use safe plastic products in daily life.
Among them, the material should list in detail of all the material which are possible to contact with the food parts including the bottle lid, bottle body, straw, etc. Experts suggest that plastic food containers, including children’s plastic drinking bottles, should be made of PP material. In addition, consumers should avoid putting hot water, hot soup, tea and coffee in plastic containers or plastic bags as far as possible, and avoid heating food in microwave ovens that are not in special plastic containers.
Many people think that plastic reduction is a hassle which will add a lot of inconvenience in daily life. In fact, this is a concept of awareness and habits of the problem. If you can develop a good habit of carrying the water bottle such as your own sports water bottle or vacuum insulation water bottle, you will find that reduce plastic starting with yourself is not difficult. Stainless steel vacuum insulation water bottles are generally made of food grade 304 stainless steel, containing chromium of 16% which is in good stability and very corrosion resistance. It will not rust for a long time use and has the function of heat preservation and cold protection. Choose a vacuum insulation water bottle instead of a plastic bottle and do your bit for the environment.
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