Don’t Pink About It,Think About It: Choose Safer Water Bottles!
Here we are back at school – settled into our routines – at the gym, or the fields, or the roads, the trails, or the mountains. Not only do we return to our academics, but we also need to return to our positive, stress-relieving outlets. We all know the benefits of exercise, staying in shape and staying healthy. But those of us who love our daily dose of exercise might just be getting a daily dose of harmful chemicals from hydrating.
Water, H2O, is a beautiful thing. What isn’t pretty, however, are the containers that water comes in- more specifically plastic containers. Plastic water bottles have been the source of discussion and controversy for years. This is because some of the chemicals that go into making plastic bottles have been identified as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). A recently released scientific article discusses evidence for endocrine disruptors in our everyday bottled water. Their study focused on the antiestrogenic and antiandrogenic (estrogen and androgen being two major components of your hormone system) activity from bottled water. The results of their study identified di(2-ethylhexyl) fumarate, or more simply DEHF, as antiestrogenic. This means that DEHF acts to block estrogen in our endocrine systems.
The implications of this study point to the problem that while a bottle may be labeled “BPA-free” we still might be exposed to other unidentified EDCs. There are some safer alternatives to using plastic water bottles. One way would be to use glass water bottles. Another would be to buy reusable water bottles that are ceramic or stainless steel. As you hydrate, take a moment to think about what you are drinking from- plastic? glass? How hard would it be for you to make the switch? The research is still in the works, but if we can look to preventing harmful chemicals from entering our bodies we are able to take one step towards a healthy body that doesn’t force us to take two steps back.
When you see Pink this month, think Protection from toxins in our everyday products!
