- Studies show that repeated washing, scrubbing, and boiling of polycarbonate baby bottles leads to the release of BPA. Subsequent studies determined that the release was confined to application of extreme heat. Exposure to boiling water released the BPA at 55 times the rate of average release. For this reason, microwaving food in plastic containers is not advisable.
- BPA is an industrial chemical used to make hard, clear plastics. It mimics estrogen and long-term exposure affects brain development and reproduction in lab mice and primates.
- Plastics are classified by seven types, which is usually imprinted on the side of plastic products. Some Type 7 plastics (specifically, polycarbonates, which is used to make water bottles) and some Type 3 plastics (specifically, PVC) contain BPA. The plastic type can be found in the recycling symbol on plastic products.
- Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics appear to contain as-yet unidentified estrogen-like compounds that leach into the water. It is too soon to tell if this is a health hazard to humans, according to lead researcher in the study Martin Wagner, an ecotoxicologist at Goethe University in Frankfurt.
PET plastics had previously been implicated in an Internet hoax, declaring it as a source of DEHA (untrue), allegedly a carcinogen (not true either). - In the environment, plastic bottles, as trash, have the same problems of plastics in general. Plastic breaks up into smaller pieces when exposed to sunlight, as on the open ocean. The pieces become small enough to be eaten by fish and seabirds, blocking their digestive tracts, leading to malnutrition, starvation, and death. Autopsies on such birds reveal stomachs full of small plastic chips.
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