I heard you are not supposed to refill repeatedly plastic water bottles.Truth or Water Bottler's Propaganda?

Question

The reason was because the plastic breaks down and puts chemicals in the water.

Answer 1

It's an urban legend. Reused water bottles do not leech chemicals into water. The story has been going around for a long time. Snopes has debunked it: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/petbottles.asp

Answer 2

FALSE!!

The plastic will NOT break down and release chemicals into the water. See the link. The only possible issue is not cleaning the bottle well enough between uses, and bateria starting to grow.

Answer 3

It's not dangerous, but if you do it ALL the time the bottle will eventually grow bacteria in it. You'll have to get a new bottle at some point, but to refill a few times won't hurt anything.

Answer 4

The problem with refilling plastic water bottles is that you get particles of food and bacteria from your mouth in and on the bottle. This can cause food poisoning. I don't think it's the breakdown of the plastic that's the problem.

I wouldn't refill one more than once without washing it very well.

Answer 5

There are 2 aspects of this:

1. Contamination. It is REALLY hard ot make sure the bottle is clean. Unless you can work a sudsy bottle brush in there, there is probably something growing inside. After all- you cannot heat the bottles up to disinfect them!

2. Chemical degradation. If you reuse bottles, you'll notice that after a rather short time, they become misshapen. SOMETHING is going on. It probably does not put your health at risk, but something changes.

I prefer to not re-use those bottles too often- tossing them before they distort. Instead, I get cheap Lexan-based bottles with wide mouths. You can toss those in the dishwasher, they last forever, and they hold enough to even quench MY thirst!

Answer 6

I suppose that the bottle could break down over time. . .particularly if you put it in the dishwasher.

I think that the bigger concern of repeatedly using the same water bottle and refilling it is that it's a breeding ground for germs and bacteria precisely because most people aren't likely to wash it.

Answer 7

I have heard that and I thought is was hog wash. But the did say that then when you freeze the plastic it release chemicals that come from the processing of the plastic which os petroleum based. But I still do it the water doesn't taste funny or anthing. It can't be any worse than the air that we breathe.

Answer 8

As long as you wash the bottle inbetween usage you should be fine using the same water bottle for 1 week. Th reason why it is unsafe is because bacteria builds up around the rim, then it gets in the water and begins to take over.

Answer 9

Urban legend.

The plastic will eventually degrade, but not because you are refilling it. Plastics oxidize over time due to ozone in the air, and crystallize due to exposure to UV in sunlight. Check out this debunking from snopes.com:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/petbottles.asp

Answer 10

You should not freeze filled plastic bottles - that can release chemicals into the water, but I've never heard that you shouldn't refill them. And in any case the amount of chemicals released should be negligible.