What's Lurking In Your Water Bottle?

[Kadie]

What's Lurking In Your Water Bottle?
Doctors: Reusing Water Bottles Can Make You Sick

POSTED: 7:34 am PST November 29, 2004
UPDATED: 8:16 am PST November 29, 2004

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Ask any bottled water drinker and they're likely to tell you they reuse their bottles, filling them over and over again. But doctors say this practice can make you sick.

Reporter Camille Whitworth took four bottles to a lab to find out what was lurking inside.

Kelly sits behind a desk most of the day and drinks water all day long. She admits she hasn't washed her bottle in ages.

"I'm embarrassed to say, it has been three months now," she said.

After a little convincing, Danielle also handed over her water bottle. She uses the same bottle while exercising day after day.

more...
http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/3954361/detail.html


yuck....

[demnan]

1. You know

I got to thinking about the cat's water bowl (I use a glass to drink water, not a bottle). I think I'll make a point to put it in the dish washer tonight.

[LibLabUK]

2. What a crap story...

Kelly's bottle had the highest level of contamination, with three different organisms related to streptococci. Danielle's bottle had two major problems -- pathogens that could sicken anyone with a compromised immune system.

Whitworth's bottle had low levels of bacteria related to strep and again, the bacteria that can make a person with a weakened immune system sick. Steve came out the best with the lowest level of contamination.

All four bottles had some level of bacteria, and Ross said while the levels weren't deadly, they could certainly make you sick with a stomachache, vomiting or diarrhea.

The best thing to me is simply not to reuse them," Ross said.

The bacteria are probably FROM the mouths of the people who are drinking the water.

Unless they're sharing bottle with immunocompromised persons there isn't really a big danger.

[Penguin31]

3. The real purpose of the study...

Make you buy more bottled water.

Simple.

[LibLabUK]

4. Y'know what..

Bottled water is more likely to be contaminated (with both organic and inorganic matter) than tap water.

[McKenzie]

6. my hillwalking water bottle

is likely to be safe because I usually put cask strength Macallan in it...the alcohol is probably better than bleach as a sterilising agent...snigger

[hlthe2b]

7. Exactly... Unless there are very high levels of enterics (e.g., E. coli)

I don't take anything signficant from this...

[hlthe2b]

5. Well, while I don't advocate not washing bottles and disinfecting daily...

with chlorox solution...

the truth is the reason these folks are probably not getting sick, despite the significant level of enteric bacteria, is because they have gradually become exposed to more and more of these "bugs" through this practice and have some immunity built up. That's why those in the 3rd world don't necessarily get sick from the same water that sends Americans home with raging diarrhea (i.e., Montezuma's Revenge).

At some point it becomes a threshold issue. The same bottle passed to a friend at the gym, might well cause significant GI illness, while the recipient goes on their merry way. Not unlike recent studies on the development of asthma which suggest those children exposed to low, but gradually increasing levels of allergens (especially from pets) early in life may have an overall lower risk of developing asthma.

Bottom line, strict, strict paranoic hygiene (ah la Howard Hughes) is not necessarily healthier in the long run than the opposite extreme.

[McKenzie]

8. I agree with the "dirt is good" theory

I lived on a farm when I was very young and we used to come into contact with cattle and pigs frequently. We also drank unpasteurised milk (that was in the early 1960's BTW), played in the hay and drank out of the garden hosepipe. I can't prove it though I suspect that our lifestyle helped build up a resistance to loads of potentially nasty germs. The clean kids were usually the first to get flu, colds etc. Us mucky kids were robustly healthy.

[LibLabUK]

9. The problem comes when...

you get outbreaks of illness among the vulnerable.

Sure unpasteurised milk did you no harm, but the listeria (et al) it potentially contained could wreak havoc with a baby, pregnant woman or elderly person.

So having the milk pasteurised is probably better for society.

It also keeps longer :)

[yellowdogintexas]

10. Agree with you on this:

Well water, garden hoses, wading in the creeks and ponds, mud pies, barefoot in the grass, and don't forget cisterns...you don't even WANT to know what lives in a cistern!!! Which is why I belive most parents today are way too over the top on the whole "antibacterial" thing!

I grew up in Southern Kentucky, with a well in the yard. Now this was some seriously good tasting water, high in mineral content but no sulfur or anything like that. However, when you have a good subsurface stream in Kentucky, you have no idea what is upstream of you due to the swiss cheese characteristics of the subsurface (Mammoth Cave=350+ miles of mapped passage and still growing, drainage area of over 500 square miles)

So some farmer's cows could be upstream of your well. We had it tested,etc, and our dr gave us typhoid immunizations every 2 years

I don't even want to think about all the stuff we were exposed to over the years. But when I was an adult and went cave exploring at Mammoth Cave Nat'l Park, our water was trucked in at the field station we used. It was stored in a tank ..and old cistern..no doubt full of God knows what. Some folks got sick after being there..I never did. Those city slickers just couldn't take it (LOL)!


Traveling in Spain: never got sick not even once. Think I was immune, or at least resistant

Traveling in Mexico: never got sick, not even once. same thing.

I do belive all those years of well water, cistern water, hose drinking, pond swimming, creek swimming, etc. built good immunity.

[flamingyouth]

11. I use Nalgene bottles and put them in my dishwasher

I drink a ton of water, so I have a filter and just keep filling and washing my bottles. The bottles cost about $8 but they are very durable (take it from me - I've dropped them on the pavement more times than I can count). :D

[BiggJawn]

13. Better do some research on those Nalgene bottles...

I recall reading something a while back that the plastic can break down into nasty chemical compounds. Probably would have to eat 2,000 of 'em to get sick, but still......

And I ain't cutting my pee-pee off, even if it WOULD get me a pay raise....:-)

[flamingyouth]

16. I'd rather not do the research, to be honest :)

I already feel like I'm living a near-monastic lifestyle. I figure if the worst thing that I take in comes from my water bottle, I'm probably doing okay.

(LOL - now of course I'm off to Google the dangers of Nalgene bottles). :hi:

[flamingyouth]

17. Oh no...

Not only are they toxic, but naturally they're owned by an evil corporation that sounds straight out of Austin Powers. :cry:

http://www.pbs.org/pov/borders/2004/talk/uf_176.html

[BiggJawn]

19. That's it! BPA...

Oh, boy, an "estrogen mimic".....I'm at that age where I expect to wake up with hairy titties one morning anyway, so the less help I can give 'em...:-)

Yeah, that's what I was reading about them. I recall that heat tends to bring the BPA into solution, so you should never drink hot stuff out of them.

I use Polyethylene bottles. cheap, no chemicals, and when they get too grungy to clean, in the recycling bin they go!

Filling them with hot water and baking soda when new and letting them soak over night helps to kill that "poly" taste...

[flamingyouth]

20. I should have known

I evaluated a grant regarding persistent toxic chemicals earlier this year, but I never made the connection between what I was reading and what I was drinking my water out of. :(

I like your suggestion and I'm going to use it. Thanks! :hi:

[BiggJawn]

21. Right under your nose, eh?

Wow.

I use a lot of poly bottles in the summer. I usually have 3-4 quarts of water chilling, and some bottles of Gatorade in the freezer for my bike rides. I take at least 2 qts. with me on a ride.

About the time the water bottles are getting empty and lukewarm, the Gatorade is thawing out so you get a cold refreshing blast of "AHHHH!!!" right when you need it most.

[underpants]

12. Washback

Next question

[commander bunnypants]

14. vodka

I was mine.. Had my sippy cup for two years now


CB

[Not_Giving_Up]

15. Ummm...duh

You have to wash these things...otherwise they get that slime going on (my bird's water dish is famous for it). I don't drink bottled water, but I do have a two gallon container with a spicket for the kids in the fridge. When it's empty, I wash it before I fill it back up. I didn't once, and was informed that the water "tastes like dog pee"...Wonder how they knew what dog pee tasted like. The cat bowl is washed regularly as well.

[BiggJawn]

18. Nasty things grow in TdF water bottles...

I tried to find the reference, but I recall reading about how several Tour de France riders got picked-off by getting sick from their water bottles.

Something along the limes of "Stupid Domestiques! They did not boil the bottles after the day's stage!"