We all use plastic bottles now and again, whether we want to or not. They're simply everywhere - at the shops, in diners, at events and even in our kitchen. We often use the same bottles again and again instead of throwing them into the recycling bin, seeing more value in reusing them.
The question is: Are we taking a risk with our health when we do so? It appears that, in certain cases, the answer is yes. There are 3 things you need to know before you refill that plastic bottle of water:
1. Bacteria can thrive in a bottle of water.
While a one-time use of a bottle of water (as manufacturers declare it should only be) won't harm you, you're tempting your fate if you decide to drink from it again. Studies have shown that prolonged use of the same plastic bottle causes it to scratch and crack, and it is inside these little scratches and cracks that bacteria can thrive, just like on your cutting board.
You must thoroughly clean your cutting board after each use, and if you plan on filling up your plastic bottle for another use, you should clean it as well. Do so with lukewarm water and soap. Of course, this cleaning will probably cause more damage to the bottle. Remember, they weren't made for reuse, and so they were not made to resist the various cleaning materials.
It's also important to remember that the bacteria in the water bottle can get through to your mouth, so if you aren't rinsing your bottle, it acquires many bacteria that live in water, turning your bottle into a real Petri dish.
A study performed at the University of Calgary found that water bottles used by elementary school age children over and over again without being cleaned contained a much higher amount of bacteria than should be in our drinking water. One cause for that is that the bottle sat in room temperature most of the day, which is a perfect temperature for bacteria to thrive in. Putting the bottle in the fridge or the freezer will dramatically decrease the number of bacteria in the bottle.
Even plastic bottles that are reusable need to be washed with lukewarm water and soap, because they can also accumulate scratches and bacteria, even if they probably accumulate less than a disposable one. As a rule, all plastic bottles are hard to clean without leaving scratches, and if you are using plastic bottles more than once - wash them often.