It is difficult to dispute the opinions of medical authorities with credentials as impressive as Sheryl Crow and somebody’s husband’s friend’s mother’s doctor but in this case, they appear to be mistaken. While it is true that chemicals from plastics used for bottled water can be leached into the water, the FDA has determined that the level of this contamination is so negligible that it does not pose a threat to human health. Also, the chemicals that may get into the water do not include dioxin, which is not used in these plastics. There have been some concerns raised about some hard plastics such as those used in baby bottles, which often contain a potential carcinogenic called bisphenol A or BPA. While the evidence for leaching and contamination is scant, there has been enough concern generated that BPAs have been banned in some places, and alternative plastics are being used to provide other options for those who want to avoid BPAs. However, the type of plastic used for water bottles, which is called polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, does not contain BPAs and never did.
While one can never be sure exactly how an urban legend originates, the Internet has unquestionably jumpstarted the process by providing a dense and expansive communication system through which they can spread quickly. In this case, the only thing that appears to have any truth-value is the connection of Sheryl Crow to the story. During an appearance on Ellen, she did apparently warn viewers not to drink from water bottles that had been left laying around to soak up the sun, and later repeated that advice on her website. However, at no time did she claim that her breast cancer was caused by drinking from such a bottle.
A real study indicates real trouble
The plastics used in water bottles have not been directly linked to breast cancer. However, a study performed at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, and published in 2009, looked at the issue of chemical leaching in PET plastic bottles, and what they found has indeed raised some alarms. According to their studies, mineral water bottles manufactured from this substance were found to be contaminated to a not-insignificant degree with estrogen-like chemicals 78% of the time. These types of man-made substances, called xenohormones, can mimic the effects of estrogen and other hormones in the body, which could conceivably cause havoc and chaos in the human endocrine system. These substances have been discovered in such diverse sources as pesticides, cosmetics, fuels, drugs and plastics – including PETs, which the FDA had previously classified as safe. For medical detectives trying to understand such medical problems as the lowering of the male sperm count, infertility and increases in testicular cancer and breast cancer, xenohormones are now being identified as potential prime suspects.
The blurry line between fact and fiction
The story of breast cancer being caused by contaminated water bottles is a prototypical urban legend. But urban legends often grow out of things that people legitimately fear, and that appears to be the case here. The proliferation of chemical usage in modern society is astounding and alarming, because we truthfully don’t know what this chemical stew we are all being exposed to may be doing to our bodies. The rate of breast cancer has gone up significantly over the past 50 years. Coincidentally or perhaps not so, the amounts and variety of chemicals used in industrial and agricultural processes and as additives in personal care products has continued to increase. So while breast cancer may not be caused by overheated water bottles, our society’s overheated use of chemicals may very well be playing a significant role in the rising tide of cancer that has been observed just about everywhere around the world.
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