Bottled water in cars = breast cancer?

[fizzpops]

Has anyone heard this?

Sorry for the long post but I received an email which paraphrased read as below. I generally think these things are a bit scaremongery and so take it with a pinch of salt but I always heat my DD's food in plastic bowls in the microwave and so thought there may be a clever person out there who could tell me whether to worry or not.

"On the Ellen show, Sheryl Crow said that this is what caused her breast cancer.
It has been identified as the most common cause of the high levels of dioxin in breast cancer tissue.

Sheryl Crow's oncologist told her: women should not drink bottled water that has been left in a car.
The heat reacts with the chemicals in the plastic of the bottle which releases dioxin into the water. Dioxin is a toxin increasingly found in breast cancer tissue. So please be careful and do not drink bottled water that has been left in a car.

This information is also being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center .
No plastic containers in microwave. No water bottles in freezer. No plastic wrap in microwave.

A dioxin chemical causes cancer, especially breast cancer.. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard.

He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers...
This especially applies to foods that contain fat.
He said that the combination of fat, high heat and plastic releases dioxin into the body.

Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So, such things as TV dinners, instant soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else.

Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc.

He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons...

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran wrap, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead."

I heard this from my Pilates teacher, but apparently it is not true.

Thanks, that is reassuring

In America they strongly push glass baby bottles for exactly this reason - heating milk in a plastic bottle releasing cancer toxins. Not worth the risk.

Interesting link Lilymaid, so the truth in it is that there is some truth and some untruth...

I think the truth is that they don't know, but I would be surprised if plastic heats up enough just in a car to cause any problems. I do try to avoid using plastic in the microwave though.

bottled water left in a car tastes vile anyway

Try this Google Search - agree it tastes vile so for that reason alone, bottled water in the car is only for dire emergencies/topping up the radiator/washing hands!

Sorry not true.
Check out www.hoax-slayer.com/plastic-cancer-link-hoax.html

Plastics drinks bottles and food wrap don't contain dioxin. Dioxin is created when oil based items are destroyed by burning at too low a temperature such as on your garden bonfire.
Commercial incinerators burn at 1000 - 1500 C and will prevent the formation of dioxins. Incidentally archaeologists have discovered dioxins in the bodies of Egyptian mummies, it has been around a long time!!

Chemicals will leach from plastic into the water, regardless of temperature.
Although exaggerated in places, most of what the OP has quoted is true.

bump - knickknack.

I learnt this on my nutrition course. We are not told a lot of things. Ignorance is bliss but the truth is out there along with a lot of miss-information to confuse us. Why take the risk.

A friend of mine actually did his Masters thesis on this topic. Apparently you should only use plastic containers specified for microwave use.

So should we not be drinking out of plastic bottles at all?
I only ask because I am never without mine.

Topsi, I think that the point is that if you heat plastics in some cases they leach dioxins. But it's highly debatable whether water could ever get that hot in an car exposed to ordinary temperaures (temperature is likely to still basically be "tepid", even on a hot day).

I have a friend who died recently in her mid 30s from breastcancer :(. She blamed a lot of things for her disease, we'll never know why she got it, and there were some things she ignored completely that looked like equally likely risk factors in her history . I think it's the malaise of cancer, people want an explanation for what is often as not a random event.

Is it the same as the heating baby milk in plastic bottles debate. I buy bottled water then reuse the bottle for maybe a couple of weeks. Is that bad because the bottle could degrade over time?

I think there is a big jump in the logic/science of dioxins being found in cancerous tissues and dioxins causing cancer.

Women who drink more than 1 unit of alcohol a day are at much greater risk of breast cancer- that is proven.

I am not sure about this dioxin theroy- there could be a million reasons why it is found in breast tissue but that's not to say it is the cause of the cancer.

It's similar to the old idea that eating foods high in cholesterol raised your cholesterol levles- they don't. What raises chol. is too much fat, full stop, lack of exercise, and a predisposition to high levels, depending on genetics and liver function.

I don't own a microwave as many years back a cancer expert told me that microwave activity changes the DNA of foods, and I don'tlike microwaved food anyway. Ihave a double oven , a grill ,and a gas hob and that's enough!

Yes purplepeony and women who smoke and don't breast feed for long. They also don't tell you that each cancer is surrounded by fungal growth. The microwave thing is interesting 'cos surely boiling changes the DNA of foods.

i don't use a microwave BTW but my mum has used one for 22 yrs is 82 and very healthy (she does follow a healthy veg diet).