Welcome to the third to last xx/xx/xx year in our lifetimes Only next year and 2012 until we wait another 88 years for one.
Now that I have gotten your attention, actually MOST plastic bottles are not evil from a health and safety perspective, but the way that we use them certainly is evil. I did say MOST, since by far the greatest number of plastic containers are made of polyethylene (PE, recycle code 2), polypropylene (PP, recycle code 5), or polyethylene terephthalate, (PET or PETE, recycle code 1). These materials are not very apt to leach harmful materials into the contents.
Some plastics, notably polycarbonate (PC, recycle code 7 [7 is a catch all for “other”]) are apt to leach out harmful materials, particularly bisphenol A, strongly suspected as being an endocrine system disruptor because of its potential to mimic estrogen. Polycarbonate containers are clear and usually thick, while PE and PP are translucent. PETE is also clear, but usually quite a bit thinner than PC. Just look at the recycle codes on the bottom.
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