Is It Unhealthy To Reuse A Plastic Water Bottle?

Posting Date: 09/20/2000

Original broadcast date: July 26, 2000

Marsha: I heard of a study that says you shouldn't reuse plastic water bottles, because the plastic breaks down and releases vinyl chloride into the water, which causes cancer.

Also, the vinyl chloride imitates the female hormone, estrogen, and keeps your body from producing its own estrogen.

Is this true?

Dr. Dean: Vinyl chloride, in large amounts, can act like pseudo-estrogens and is not good for you. However, you're very unlikely to ingest a dangerous amount.

Substances that cause cancer do so because large amounts of them affect your DNA. The quantity in a bottle of water that you would refill every few days for a certain period of time would not be significant in terms of your overall health.

I have a plastic water bottle that's designed for camping, and if the water starts to taste like plastic, I throw it out and get a new one. If you can taste the plastic, the level of chemicals is too high.

Bottles that are pre-filled with water are not meant to be reused and their plastic will break down even more rapidly than will sports or camping bottles that are made as reusable containers.

If you get a few uses out of them, no big deal. But I wouldn't let them bake out in the sun.

Vinyl chloride is an environmental contaminant, but birth control pills manipulate estrogen much more dramatically than any small dose of vinyl chloride could.

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