Why we should not drink from plastic bottles?
In our daily life, plastic is a very familiar material for any purpose. We start our day by waking up in the morning with a plastic brush to brush our teeth. Not only tooth brass, Coffee cups, water bottles, and food bowls are all dominated by plastic.
According to Statista, the production and use of plastic involve more than 3.5 billion tons per year. We are using plastic bottles for drinking purposes. Worldwide around 500 billion plastic bottles using for drinking purposes. However, have we ever thought about how safe plastic water bottle is for our body?
Let us know today the ingredients and damage potential of plastic water bottles.
These drinking water or mineral water bottles are made with two types of compounds. One of its Polycarbonate is Bisphenol A (BPA) (Biphenyl), and the other is Polyethylene terephthalate (Polyethylene Terephthalate) or PET. While scientists consider polyethylene safe, on the other hand, Bisphenol A (BPA) is considered harmful (source).
This is because BPA can dissolve the plastic material by reacting with the material inside the plastic. Various substances can dissolve easily, mix with water, and enter the human body.
A hormone in the human body is similar to BPA, known as Estrogen Miki Hormone. These substances enter the human body and inhibit the body’s regular hormonal activity.
Prof. Chris Winder of the Australian Catholic University found in a study that BPA could cause reproductive system problems (Source: Is bottled water bad for you?
By Siobhan Moylan, The Sydney Morning Herald on May 17, 2013), obesity, throat cancer, diabetes, and other complex diseases.
It can even cause breast and uterine cancer. This harmful BPA has been used in commercial plastic production since 1950. Various scientific studies have already proven the toxicity of BPA.
Not only have that, in the presence of harmful Nickel, Ethylbenzene, Ethylene oxide, Benzene, Colourants, Plasticizers, and pigments been found in plastic bottles.
Colorants, pigment-like substances, are used to brighten the color of plastic bottles. Some of these substances are known to be carcinogenic or cancer-causing. The alarming thing is that the standards set for removing harmful substances from plastic bottles are not met in many cases.
American filmmakers Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman have made a documentary called ” Thirst ” about why the water business is growing day by day despite the growing worldwide concern about the purity of plastic bottled water and its role in the human body.
They have shown that water is now in possession of the corporate world. Not only that, but multinational companies have also given proof of how they are grabbing groundwater by explaining water as a fundamental right.
I hope that public opinion against plastic bottled water is already growing. There is increasing concern about plastic bottled water in the western world, including America.
In Bangladesh, the honorable High Court has issued a rule to stop the production and use of plastic bottles, reusing water, soft drinks and medicines, and other food products, including storage and marketing.
Professor Chris Winder hopes that within the next ten years, everyone will know about the harms of plastic bottles, and within the next 20 years, drinking water in plastic bottles will stop (Source: Is bottled water bad for you? By Siobhan Moylan, Illawarra Mercury on May 20 2013)
Therefore, it is high time we all become aware of using plastic water bottles. We need to reduce the use of plastic now to protect our physical health.
