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sally said:
for example, people say youre not supposed to re-use plastic water bottles (or even see-through nalgenes) because chemicals in the plastic can leech into the water, and they are known carcinogens.

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J3illy said:
Can you show proof of this?  I don't see how it's possible, or that there's carcinogens in plastic containers.  Why would they EVER allow carcinogens in them if this were the case?

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Leeching of Plasticizers

There has been a lot of discussion in the news in the past few years about the dangers of chemicals that could leech out of plastic bottles into the water they contain. This hysteria started with a student's senior thesis about an obscure type of plastic typically not used in water bottles. Her study suggested that the plasticizers could leech into water if the bottles were heated or frozen. Although the study was only concerned with a plastic not used in commercial water bottles, and its results were not subject to peer review by scientists, media outlets spun the story into a consumer panic.

The truth is less frightening. All materials that are intended for food storage or production are evaluated by the FDA for safety. This scrutiny applies to all plastic water bottles, just like any other food container. The FDA has determined that the plastics used in commercially available water bottles are safe for use with consumable fluids. All plastics emit small amounts of plasticizer over time, but the FDA has determined that these chemicals are harmless in small doses, and thus do not pose a risk to consumers.

The bottom line: Go ahead and reuse those water bottles. Just keep them clean.

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