Bottled-water: Reliever of thirst or harbinger of cancer?

It is a known fact that water is the healthiest thing you can drink. But many people are not aware that now that there is a catch? Scientists suggest that drinking bottled-water might not be the best thing for you. But why do they suggest that? To understand that, we’ll have to dive into a different world. The world of microbes.

A Case Study
Let’s have a look at Sneha who currently doing her morning jog across the dew-covered garden. The air is chilly and misty and her shoes are kicking up blades of grass and dirt. She is now in the middle of her seventh lap and seems a little tired. She stops next to tree, sweating, and pulls out a small plastic bottle strapped to her waist. She uncaps the bottle, raises to her lips, and tilts it into her mouth, letting the water to slop into her parched throat.

The water is having a therapeutic effect on her. But she doesn’t know that in the long run, it might not be the best thing for her.

The water she is currently drinking is actually the one that she boiled and filtered in the morning. So, it is expected from her to assume that it’s safe to drink. After all, she boiled it to kill all the germs and bacteria and filtered it get rid of all that harmful chemicals. There shouldn’t be any problems with it.

However, there is an issue here, an elephant in the room that seriously needs addressing.

To see the problem, we’ll need to have a closer look at the water she is currently drinking. Let’s pause Sneha in the middle of her drinking and zoom into her bottle.

Things present within a bottled-water
The first thing that you would notice after turning small and diving into her bottle would be the constantly echoey gurgle in your ears, a blindingly white, dappling world of bubbles and pathogens. But these are not the only things that would be swimming around you.

You would soon spot a drifting grey ball, that looks like a gob of black soil. That would be most probably BPA, a potentially harmful chemical that can cause you a lot of trouble. And you will probably also notice these huge, rugged, green balls, floating along those tiny microbes and bubbles.

Those you should consider as your worst enemies. They are carcinogens, the cancer-causing substances. You read that right.

They can cause cancer.

So, where in the world did these serious threats come from, when Sneha had tried to eliminated most of them? The answer to that question is pretty simple. They were released into the water by the plastic surface of the water bottle.

If this case study still doesn’t convince you, then let’s have a look the reasons why you should avoid drinking bottled-water:

They release harmful chemicals into the water

As we have already shown, the plastic bottles can release harmful chemicals into the water. When one exposes the plastic bottles to regular wear and tear and heat, the outer layers of plastic breaks down. In response, plastics release a chemical called bisphenol A (BPA) into the water or other edible products inside the container. BPA stands for bisphenol A and is an industrial chemical. It has been used to make certain plastics and resins since the sixties.

The molecule is found in epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics that are often used in containers that store food and beverages, such as water bottles. Epoxy resins due to their oligomeric nature are used to coat the inside of metal products. Large exposure to BPA molecules can have negative health effects on the brain. They can alter a person's behavior, and have a negative effect on the prostate gland of fetuses, infants, and children. Some researches have even suggested that there could be a possible link between BPA and increased blood pressure.

Plastic chemicals make it harder for the person to have a baby
Researchers have found that men and women who have opted for IVF had high levels of BPA in their blood and urine. The women with high level of BPA are less likely to have a successful pregnancy. Research has also shown that exposure of eggs to BPA can decrease the percentage of eggs that mature and increase the percentage of eggs that degenerated.

Although more research is needed, the results suggest that when BPA mimics estrogen and acts as an artificial estrogen, it intervenes with different stages of pregnancy like fertilization and implantation. Estrogen is the primary female sex hormone. This hormone is responsible for the development of secondary sex characteristics and regulation of the female reproductive system.

Plastic chemicals can cause heart disease
Who would have thought that plastic bottles could have a harmful effect on one’s heart? According to a study published in 2012, that humans exposed to the highest levels of Bisphenol A have an increased risk of heart disease. Researchers think this could be due to BPA’s link to high blood pressure which is one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease. Since BPA acts like the hormone estrogen, it can raise blood pressure as it interacts with cells in the heart and blood vessels that are considered to be sensitive to the very compound.

They can expose you to potentially harmful bacteria
Unlike your usual glass or steel bottles, both reusable and disposable plastic bottles break down from regular use. Even tiny cracks can harbor bacteria. Your plastic surface may seem smooth. But if you zoom in, you’ll find that it is far from it. It is like the surface an alien planet, with its own valleys and hills, sheltering several different kinds of bacteria.

They can cause cancer
Many researchers have proved that BPA is genotoxic. What is genotoxic? Genotoxicity can be described as the property of chemical molecules that damages the genetic information within a cell causing it to mutate and lead to cancer. In layman terms, genotoxic means chemicals that destroy our DNA which might lead to cancer. BPA as an estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemical which exhibits estrogen-like activity. As estrogen is linked to breast-cancer, hight amount of BPA could promote breast cancer in women.

But if you can’t drink from plastic-bottle then what should you do? Glass bottles and stainless-steal bottles are your best bet. Many people are also moving back to the tap water, with faucet filters and clay pitchers.

Water is the symbol of life. Let’s work together and keep it that way