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Expert Reveals Hidden Risk of Drinking Bottled Water That’s Gone Warm During Summer: ‘Do Not...’

Can the bottled water quench your thirst for real, or does it end up doing more harm than good? The secrets are debunked.

BY NEHA B.

PUBLISHED 3 DAYS AGO

Woman drinking water from a plastic bottle during summer. (Representative Cover Image Source: Freepik | Gpointstudio)

Parked amid a cluster of dense shrubbery, a car hosts a carton of plastic water bottles that are sprawled recklessly on its back seat while the campers are out there exploring the trees and trails, snapping photographs. While the scorching afternoon Sun assaults the car’s window glass, the light energy seeps inside and gets trapped there in the form of heat energy. When this heat energy comes in contact with the water bottles, it bakes the plastic walls into tender hot surfaces, which start spewing their chemicals into the water.

Woman stands on the beach at sunset with a bottle of water (Representative Image Source: Freepik)

If a camper drinks water from one of these bottles, these chemicals will ooze into their mouth and turn their body into an inventory of illnesses. This is one of the reasons why Sarah Lawson, a food safety expert from Storage Box Shop, advises people not to drink water from a plastic bottle that has gone warm. “Do not drink bottled water that has been left in the sun or a hot environment, like a car. The heat can cause harmful chemicals to leach from the plastic into the water. Staying hydrated is important, but drinking water that has been left in the heat is not safe. Always keep your bottled water cool to protect your health," Lawson said, according to the Express.

Woman drinks from a plastic water bottle (Representative Image Source: Freepik)

Elaborating on the reason for her concern, she explained that when bottled water heats up, the chemicals lingering in the plastic material get leached into the water, which can be harmful to the person who drinks it. Most plastic bottles are made of “polyethylene terephthalate.” When the bottles are heated up, they release chemicals like phthalates and antimony, and bisphenol A (BPA), which can trigger a series of sickening illnesses.

Water spilling from a plastic bottle on the beach (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Hunain Bin Shahid)

In a 2019 study published in the journal Environmental Research, researchers revealed that when a plastic bottle is heated at high temperatures, the harmful effects of chemicals inside it can multiply to dangerous proportions. “The phthalate levels of drinking water significantly increased by contact of hot water with disposable plastic and paper cups and by sunlight exposure of bottled water,” they wrote in the study. In 2014, University of Florida’s soil and water science professor Lena Ma conducted a study on the chemicals released in 16 brands of bottled water kept at 158 degrees Fahrenheit for four weeks.

Woman drinks water from a plastic bottle (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Gustavo Fring)

This temperature was deemed a “worst-case scenario” for human consumption. The bottles were passed through intense heat over a four-week-long period. Ma and her colleagues found that the bottles released bountiful quantities of chemicals like BPA. Following the study, published in Environmental Pollution, the researchers warned people against leaving their plastic bottles in a hot garage or a car for too long, especially in the summer. She also cautioned people against consuming beverages like milk, coffee, and acidic juice coming in plastic containers. She also expressed her preference for tap water over bottled water in general.

Two orange juice bottles kept on a sunlit beach (Representative Image Source: Freepik)

Meanwhile, Lawson too emphasized how this noxious cocktail of chemicals can have a malign influence on the bodily system. She mentioned a list of side effects these chemicals could have on the body. Stomach issues, for instance. One could feel nauseous or get a stomachache. Other problems that may pop out after drinking water from these warmed-up bottles include headaches, dizziness, reproductive issues, and hormone problems.