Protect Yourself and Report the Latest Frauds, Scams, Spams, Fakes, Identify Theft Hacks and Hoaxes
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Have you receive an email warning you that your plastic water
bottle could cause cancer? The email probably looked like this:
"Many are unaware of poisoning caused by re-using plastic bottles. Some of you
may be in the habit of using and re-using your disposable mineral water bottles
(eg. Evian, Aqua, Ice Mountain, Vita, etc), keeping them in your car or at work.
Not a good idea. In a nutshell, the plastic (called polyethylene terephthalate
or PET) used in these bottles contains a potentially carcinogenic element
(something called diethylhydroxylamine or DEHA). The bottles are safe for
one-time use only; if you must keep them longer, it should be or no more than a
few days, a week max, and keep them away from heat as well. Repeated washing and
rinsing can cause the plastic to break down and the carcinogens (cancer-causing
chemical agents) can leach into the water that YOU are drinking. Better to
invest in water bottles that are really meant for multiple uses. This is not
something we should be scrimping on. Those of you with family - to please advise
them, especially children."
If you are the type who likes conspiracy theories, or believes that anything man-made must be bad...well, then you probably believed this hoax as well.
There is no scientific evidence that reusing plastic bottles can lead to cancer. The type of plastic (PET) used in water bottles has been used for years in drinking bottles, and has been tested, reviewed and approved by health agencies, research institutions and others worldwide.
The chemical referred to in the email, DEHA, is not even
considered to be a human carcinogen and is not considered to pose any
significant health risk to humans.
Apparently, this hoax originated with a real Master's thesis from a student at
the University of Idaho. Of course, the media, published and hyped the
students paper... but that's all it was: a students paper: not bona fide,
credible research.
Of course, if you reuse a plastic bottle, you have to be careful to clean it out because bacteria could grown in there. This is true whether the bottle is made from plastic, glass, aluminum, or whatever!
And to those conspiracy theorists nuts, if you doubt our word, you probably wouldn't believe the American Cancer Society, either, who also agrees that this is nonsense ( see this article on their website ).
And if you want to see the humorous side of hoax emails, read the spoof of the bubble-boy scams.
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