Don't believe everything you read. Review on Bisleri

I received an e-mail from a dear friend.

Reusing old bisleri/soft drink plastic bottles can cause cancer to you and your child. It can cause enough worry to a mother that she could have been handing her son carcinogens to drink.

The e-mail has been circulating around for almost an year now. I think it is based on a few articles appearing online in Jan. 2003. It was then circulated as news to be forwarded from person to person. I know loads of people reuse plastic bottles for a long time.

Is it true ?

Here is some recent news that I could find in connection with this.

1. Prominent scientists from Colombo University have rejectedthe claims made by this e-mail. The article which is available at

https://209.41.191.254/cnn.cfm?id=105475&category=Science&Technology&Country=SR
I%20LANKA

states that the toxic chemical DEHA (Dihydoxyethylamine) is not used in the manufacture of the plastic water bottles.

DEHA also stands for diethylhexyladipate ? which may be carcinogenic in animals ? no human data is available. But this is also not used in plastic bottles.

1. Another source verifying that this e-mail is incorrect is the article from food standard news posted in Dec. 2003 at the following link (ctrl+F DEHA) ?

https://foodstandards.gov.au/mediareleasespublications/foodstandardsnews/foodst
andardsnews48d2322.cfm

1. Another article from Deptt of Education and Training, Australia in Nov. 2003 looks at this in detail -

https://decs.act.gov.au/publicat/pdf/November2003.pdf

and provides several other references/ online articles.

Common factor- the e-mail does not have the correct info.

There is, however, a risk of bacterial contamination in reused plastic bottles. This can be addressed simply by draining out the bottle completely after use. Don?t reuse it till its dry.

Then refill and refrigerate.

In the end, I don?t claim to be an authority on this subject. I have just googled and found some recent articles addressing the issue.

If anybody else has any information on the subject, please let me know.

Pardon the formatting - I can't seem to improve it.

And the writing - it was done in a hurry. This is a purely informational review.