Reusable plastic bottles turned out to be dangerous for humans

A lot has been said and written about the dangers of disposable plastic bottles. Many environmental organizations persistently urged everyone to switch to reusable plastic dishes. It is thrown out much less often and is made of less dangerous polymers. But it turned out that there is no safe food-grade plastic and even reusable bottles cause serious harm.

Until recently, it was believed that plastic water bottles and flasks that we use in gyms and hiking are made of inert plastics. They do not form microplastics and seem safe. But recent studies have shown that they still become a source of harmful compounds. From the walls of the container, it enters the water, and with it into the human body.

Such conclusions were made by representatives of science by examining bottles popular with fans of an active lifestyle. They cause damage to the body and the environment. Washing bottles in dishwashers increases their negative impact many times.

The research was conducted by chemists Selina Tisler and Jan Christensen from the University of Copenhagen. Scientists took both new and used plastic bottles for study. They filled them with ordinary tap water and left them for a day.

After 24 hours, water samples from each container were carefully studied using mass spectrography and gas chromatography. The bottles in question were divided into groups according to the method of cleaning. Some of them were never washed, others were cleaned with water manually, and others - in household dishwashers.

The study of water using high-precision equipment showed disappointing results. The water from the bottles turned out to be contaminated with more than 400 compounds released from plastic. But that's not all. Another 3,500 components got into the water from detergents for dishwashers.

Interestingly, most of the detected molecules are generally unknown to science, and for 70 percent of substances, toxicity has not been determined. On this occasion , Jan Christensen said in an interview as follows:

Of the substances that were recognized, chemists consider photoinitiators to be the most dangerous. They are activated by certain types of radiation and can cause serious harm to the human body. In addition, diethyltoluamide, insect repellents and many other interesting compounds were found in the water.

Don't bottle manufacturers know that they are poisoning their consumers? It seems that way. Danish scientists have found out that dangerous substances are not included in the composition of plastic during its manufacture. They are formed later, during chemical reactions during the use and maintenance of the container. Helps in this, for example, washing in hot water with detergents.

Diethyltoluamide is formed from a modifier that ensures the elasticity of plastic. Thanks to him, we can not be afraid that the product will crack when compressed. Christensen says that we carefully monitor the quality of drinking water, but we forget that there are many ways to accidentally pollute it ourselves. He also added that he had decided to use only glassware.