The importance for using safe water bottles cannot be stressed enough, but unfortunately many are not. There are degrees to the level of safety and we cannot rule out even the minor poisoning levels which occur over a long period, when babies are involved. This is a serious matter and as time goes by, people are going to realize that the things created from plastic and other materials are proving to be quite harmful.
Let us first look into the most basic model of water bottle which is available off the shelf in any grocery store. You would have purchased packaged water or soda in this type of bottle from a supermarket, gas station or other retail outlet. But are they safe?
Unfortunately these bottles are not safe. The reason being the material used for these bottles is polyethylene terephthalate, also popularly called PET. The dangerous thing about PET is that it breaks down over a period of time and forms DEHP or Bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate. This is a carcinogen and has a high probability of causing cancer.
Now, people like to save money and the common practice is to re-use these PET bottles. So, the result is this carcinogen is getting into the water you are drinking. Apart from this there are also the bacteria which have bred in the cracks of the bottle. All this does not sound so safe now, does it?
Well, if you research a bit further you will find that the supposedly “safe” water bottles used by athletes are not so either. These are made from polycarbonate, the same material which is used to make bottles for babies as well. The danger is that this material leaches BPA which is a kind of synthetic hormone and is not at all safe if consumed over a period of time.
All this might make you think there are no safe water bottles out there. But the good news is that there is a material called stainless steel which is generally over looked. A stainless steel water bottle is totally free from all carcinogens as it does not use any form of plastic, and hence there is no chance of leaching. The stainless steel bottle is the best for storing drinking water and humanity is lucky to have such a material. The other close option is aluminum bottle, but here again it requires an inner safe protective lining.