Plastic water bottles are made
from polyethylene terephthalate. When heated, the material releases the
chemicals antimony and bisphenol A, commonly called BPA. Antimony is considered
a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the
World Health Organization. UF soil and water science professor Lena Ma led a
research team that studied chemicals released in 16 brands of bottled water
kept at 158 degrees Fahrenheit for four weeks, what researchers deemed a
“worst-case scenario” for human consumption. The UF scientist warned against leaving plastic bottled water in a hot
garage for weeks in your car all day during the summer. More attention
should be given to other drinks packaged with polyethylene terephthalate
plastic, such as milk, coffee and acidic juice.
Ref: Ying-Ying Fan, Jian-Lun Zheng,
Jing-Hua Ren, Jun Luo, Xin-Yi Cui, Lena Q. Ma. Effects of storage temperature and duration on release of antimony and
bisphenol A from polyethylene terephthalate drinking water bottles of China.
Environmental Pollution, 2014; 192:
113.
