There’s been a lot of news lately about the toxicity of plastic bottles — particularly ones that are used for baby bottles and food. Bonna Johnson tries to bring some sense to it all in her article “Toxic bottle reports create eco-confusion.” She explains how to spot good and bad plastics.
Polycarbonate plastics are popular because they are strong, clear and shatterproof. They are labeled, usually on the bottom of the bottle, with a recycling symbol “7” and sometimes with the initials “pc.” If a plastic container is unlabeled but looks similar to glass, it likely contains the potentially harmful bisphenol A (BPA) chemical. The chemical tends to transfer from the plastic container into liquid if heated. Don’t microwave polycarbonate plastic food containers.
BPA is also found in epoxy resins, used to coat metal products such as food cans and bottle tops. When possible, opt for better choices, such as glass, stainless steel and porcelain containers, especially for hot food or liquids. Other alternatives include plastics marked with recycling symbol 2 or 5 or plastics labeled BPA-free. If you do decide to ditch your polycarbonate plastics, Metro Public Works accepts No. 7 plastics in its recycling program.
So, basically look for and stay away from anything that has the symbol “7″ on it. Typical plastic bottles, like the kind of bottles that are used for water and sodas are okay — they generally have the symbol “1″ on them.
[...] you do use a water bottle, make sure it's BPA free. If you have an old water bottle, it probably uses BPA, so you'll want to buy a new one, like the [...]