Are Plastic Bottles Safe?

by Brazos Minshew, TriVita's Chief Science Officer

News media stories have alerted the public to a growing threat to our health: plastic bottles.

Plastic bottles were once thought to be miracles of modern science as they allowed us to preserve and store foods for convenient use. Indeed, most of us use plastic bottles every day. Plastics are made from coal, natural gas or (most commonly) petroleum. They have been around for almost 200 years.

Unsafe choices

Plastics in the human body look remarkably similar to hormones. Some look like male hormones, others like female hormones. Yet, they are not hormones; they are artificial substances completely unusable to the human body. They tend to accumulate in hormone tissue around the body and cause inflammation.

Many plastics have been directly implicated in health-related concerns. For example, in the book Living Downstream, Sandra Steingraber details numerous disease clusters related to plastic manufacturing. Ms. Steingraber suffered from breast cancer. She lived downstream from a plastics manufacturer. In graphic detail she discusses how certain plasticizers (chemicals used in making plastics) actually cause disease. According to another organization, Healthy Child (www.healthychild.org), many plastics are especially damaging to children.

Plastics are identified by a numbering system from the American Chemistry Council. The number is stamped on the bottom of a plastic bottle in a little triangle (numbers outside the triangle are not relevant).

According to Healthy Child, several numbers are simply too toxic to be safe for children – or anyone else! They include numbers 1, 3, 6 & 7. Number 7, for example, contains Bisphenol A (BPA), a plastic chemical known to disrupt brain chemistry in ways similar to ADHD, schizophrenia and autism. BPA is similar to testosterone. It is harmful to women and girls and even more harmful to men and boys. (Maybe BPA is one reason why ADHD and autism are more prevalent in boys?)

Safer choices

Again, according to Healthy Child, several resin-code numbers are safer choices for our children and for us. Numbers 2, 4 & 5 are safer choices. Number 2 is the only one recommended as safe for drinks and beverages. Not coincidentally, Number 2 is the bottle we use for Nopalea!

Conclusion

Plastics are inherently unsafe in large amounts. However, with two centuries of use it seems that small amounts in our environment are tolerated without ill effects. Time will tell just how much and how often we can tolerate plastics in our environment and which ones are safest. For now, we know that we are serving our Wellness Journey best when we drink only from Number 2 plastic bottles.

Take Control of Your Health - Use plastic bottle alternatives:

Glass bottles
Stainless steel bottles/containers
Ceramic containers (no lead glaze!)
Wood, including paper
Bamboo
Reusable cloth bags
Select safer plastics – Number 2 resin code – for drinks

Nopalea is TriVita's astonishing breakthrough wellness drink that helps your body experience an optimal state of wellness by:

• Relieving pain
• Improving breathing
• Reducing swelling in joints and muscles

These changes may in turn help your body feel increasingly energized.

Daily use helps your body:

• Reduce inflammation
• Detoxify
• Achieve optimal cellular health

If inflammation is the problem, Nopalea is a Wellness Solution! Order it today!