Sport Bottle Safety

cormie

Hi,
I have heard some facts about bottles of water you buy in shops being unsafe to drink out of more than once because the plastic in the bottle.

Do sports bottles have this same hazard? I mean the hard plastic bottles cyclists etc use. How can you tell? Is there any particular brand to go for when buying one?

Regards

MartinNutty

Hi Cormie,

You might want to take a look at this: Snopes Plastic Bottle

Martin

cormie

So basically it's safe to drink out of retail bottles of water like volvic etc as long as you keep them clean to hault the spread of bacteria?

Is that reliable information in that link do you reckon?

Amz

As far as I'm aware it's just a hygeine issue. I reuse bottles, but only for a certain length of time and I wouldn't use a bottle that had been left lying there for a while.

They're not incredibly expensive anyway so replacing them isn't a huge issue.

cormie

Yeah but theres water for €1.80 or there is water for free

How about the sports bottles?? Can they be re-used again and again does anyone know? I heard before (on boards actually) that the harder the plastic, the better. There is some kind of rating on the bottom of the bottle.

if you're that worried go into millets or the Great outdoors and get a platypus,



They're handier than just normal bottles anyway!

Amz

If you ensure that the bottles are clean then you can reuse them, but if you leave water sitting in them, or don't clean/dry them out properly after using them they're going to be more likely to have bacteria grow and spread on them.

I use Milton (The stuff you sterilise baby's bottles etc. in) to rinse my sports bottles with every now and then.

Common sense should dictate when it's time to throw out one of those Volvic/Evian etc. bottles out.

Why the concern?

cormie

The concern is because I want to start a routine that involves excercise and hydration:D so don't want to be buying a new bottle every day. Also, better for the environment!!

Them platypus things look cool. I'll check them out. Are they safe??? If I see a tube that could also be handy for cycling and drinking with it in your back pocket:)

that's what they're for, you just stick them in your bag and drink from the tube, they're used for mmost outdoor pursuits and are very very safe.

thirtyfoot

Its harder to keep a platypus clean, all the tubing can get quite dirty if any residue is left in it for even a week or so. Also, for standard exercise they are not too suitable as you need a backpack to place the bag in, they won't fit in your pocket and the waterbag needs to be inverted with the tubing at the bottom otherwise you'll be sucking air. I use a Camelbak for cycling, its a platypus in its own lightweight backpack. For normal exercise just use a bottle, cleaned regularly as Amz suggests, and if your running , just hydrate before you go.

cormie

Ok thanks for the help:)

just to let you know, Lidl are doing a backpack with built in platypus-type-thing next week for €15.

cormie

Cool thanks for the tip, pretty pricey though!! I'll check out the mag downstairs:)

cormie

Just checked it out, the backpack wouldn't be too conveniant for excercising with, thanks for the tip anyway:)

upmeath

Where is the scientific proof of the cancer risks associated with bulk water containers.
some of us live in towns where the tap water tastes like it is drawn from the local swimming pool....so high is the disinfectant content.I re use bulk containers to bring water from a private rural pump source.
The companies that distribute large containers and office type systems to housing estates continually state the cancer risks of re using...Is this based on proof or commerce driven scare mongering.

Amz

upmeath wrote:

Where is the scientific proof of the cancer risks associated with bulk water containers.

Where did anyone mention cancer risks?

The companies that distribute large containers and office type systems to housing estates continually state the cancer risks of re using...Is this based on proof or commerce driven scare mongering.

I've never heard of any company saying that.

I do know that there is an oestrogen mimic in some/all plastics which some people are wary of. It's believed that ingesting too much of this can cause sterility in humans.

kasintahan

I'm glad to see it disproved, but I still carry a glass bottle around instead of a plastic one. Some day I should really do the stats on which is less risky, carrying glass or a possible oestogen/cancer risk

Amz

Anything you eat from a tin, or plastic packaging has the same risks with regard to the oestrogen mimic in plastics. Even chewing on the top of a biro etc. does. There's no point in being silly about it either. Even tins containing food have a plastic lining inside 'em to prevent metal entereing the foodchain.



I'm not sure of the levels needed to cause sterility, but I would imagine they'd need to be significant otherwise this would be a huge issue by now.

cormie

Would the alluminium water bottles at the bottom of this page be safe so?