Danger in a Bottle

You may think you’re doing yourself a favor by drinking spring water. But new research shows there could be danger lurking in the bottle.

A recent study published in Toxicology Letters found that polycarbonate water bottles, exposed to regular conditions, contain harmful levels of bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is an endocrine disruptor that acts like estrogen in the body, triggering hormonal changes and encouraging the growth of breast and prostate cancers.

Dr. James LaValle has recommended, in ETR, that you avoid drinking or eating from heated plastic. And that’s one step you can take to protect yourself against BPA. However, while you can keep your water bottles cool after you’ve purchased them, there’s no knowing their past history of heat exposure or storage time - which also affects the amount of BPA that leaches into the water.

To limit your exposure, avoid bottles with the recycling number 7, as most contain BPA. Instead, opt for recycling numbers 2 and 4 or cloudy-colored plastics, which are usually free of BPA. You can also use a high quality reverse-osmosis purification system (which removes other harmful things, too), and store your water in glass bottles in the refrigerator.

[Ed. Note: Now that you're aware of this potential threat, you can do more to protect yourself and your family for years to come. You can get more advice from nutrition expert Kelley Herring and ETR's team of health professionals, every week, for free. Discover what's bad for you and what you can do to get leaner and healthier right here.

And for delicious recipes that taste nothing like "health food," check out Kelley's website, HealingGourmet.com.]

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