Is reusing water bottles really such a health risk?

[99redballoons]

Hi, I 'recycle' water bottles for myself and ds all the time, just tip out the old water, wash out with warm water and then refill with cold water. Ds has one for nursery every day.

My mil said that if you're going to reuse bottles you have to air dry them before reusing or else chemicals can leech out into the water.

Have you heard of this before? What is the best practice when reusing bottles? Are there better brands to use than others? I use the small kids Buxton bottles.

I have no idea, but I reuse as well, so will watch with interest.

Ditto!

yummy

heres the plastics angle with the bacteria bit thrown in

ive done it since school. not the same bottle may i add, and never been ill.

oh well.

trying again

Hmmm, it's still not conclusive is it (only got half way down the Grist article, it's too early for such long words!) ;)

I really don't want to be harming ds, but what else can I give him water in?

Do you know what material the kids sports/lunchbox type bottles are made from?

Haven't read the links Pierre, but I would guess that you will find evidence to support the bacteria theory if you go looking for it. After all, it is in the interests of the bottle makers to ensure that you do not reuse them but go out and buy more!

I really wouldn't worry about it. If you are concerned, then just wash them out in really hot water, rinse well and leave them on the draining board to dry out rather than using a tea towel.

I have always reused water bottles from day one and never had any probs.

This sounds like she's read one of those forwarded emails that's actually an urban legend with little basis in fact - may have been this one, which cropped up on MN in May and scared a lot of people despite being mostly rubbish.
This is the debunking of that particular one.

With my microbiologist hat on, I have to say that improperly washed or unwashed water bottles can eventually become home to some fairly impressive bacteria and/or algae, but generally if they're washed in hot soapy water before reuse they should be fine.

The alternative, of course, is to buy a couple of bottles which are designed to be reused - Halfords are currently doing buy-one-get-one-free on their sports bottles.

Thanks all. Will continue to wash in warm soapy water but think I might invest in some small kids sports bottles.

so does this go for big water bottles that you pour into your glass, then when bottled water is gone re fill by taps?

p.s most of my dd's water bottles/sports bottles can be washed in dishwasher..only ones with flimsy straws can not.

I was quite happy scaremongering with my links but am equally happy washing out plastic bottles two or three times in hot soapy water, air drying and then chucking them and getting new ones. The plastic reusable ones with straws always end up looking very scruffy and chewed.

I have always reused plastic bottles - I tend just to wash them out & leave to dry on the draining board as I have a couple and rotate them daily. The only ones I avoid are those which aren't transparent as you can't see if they are properly clean or not.

We reuse, not that many times per bottle. Nobody ever gets sick.

I suspect reusing water bottles is a financial risk to the bottle manufacturers, more than anything else.

yep i reckon that's true fanjofanjothing

it said on one of the links....one that pierre did I think.....that they tested the bottles after a week of constant use and found hideous bacteria that would cause bad food poisoning....(that is a sick face BTW!)

why then were these people not sick??????

personally, and shoot me down if I am wrong, but I think that it is to do with the fact that it is your own germs and so are used to them. we all have bacteria living on us and around us and we don't get sick, simply because (and remember, my opinion only here!)our bodies already 'know' them and so live in harmony with them (for want of a better phrase).
we only get sick when we are already laid low, and normally tis only when highly stressed!!!!
and see all the evidence of only the really clean people getting the worst of many illnesses. kiddies who play with dirt are often lots healthier than their counterparts whose mummies make sure they aren't 'mubathers'. and that comes from a mummy who was told by her paediatrition to relax the hygene as all the sprays and bleach were equally bad.

I have to say.....my kiddies are healthier now than when they were tiny, and since their mummy DID indeed relax

anyhooo....I digress.....

I don't know about the plastic breaking down aspect....am not a sciency enough person to understand all those big words.....BUT, I do reuse bottles, and also too have some in my car for emergancies while out, meaning that they also get warm too. Mine don't get poorly bugs from them, not the type stated anyhow, and nor have i been ill....and i suspect not many, if any, have either.

we are supposed to have certain bacteria around us.

i think it also has lots to so with some of these superbugs too.....we spend so much time trying to get rid of them and clean them and penicillin them away that they are bound to fight back!!!!

hmmm.....and that was longer than planned too

It's the carcinogens that worry me more than the bacteria I think. I know the bottles are clean, but I don't know how much of the plastic chemicals are leaching into the water whilst it's sitting in his bag.

You try to go organic (food & toiletries) and not expose them to as many chemicals and then realise you're doing it through plastic bottles [sigh]

I tend to use the metal water bottles that they sell in camping & bike shops for after school/weekends. But I do send re-used plastic ones to school.If I sent metal ones I know they wouldn't come home in a usable state.

haven't read the links..but if carcinogens leech into thewater when you re-fill a plastic bottle...what stops them leeching into the original contents of the bottle anyway...?