Stainless Steel 411 - Essential Water Bottles and Containers Info

p>Why Choose Stainless Steel Bottles Overpersonal health issues involving heavy metal
Plastic?toxicity, which included aluminum. Once I
Eco-Living expert for beYOUmag, online magazine,addressed the high level of metals in my body
Michelle Barge, said it best in a March 25, 2008the health issue got better. This once again
article titled. "Lose the Plastic Water Bottle - Ourspeaks to the notion of prudent avoidance - I am
Health is Paying for the Convenience." Shenot sure about aluminum so I will just avoid it.
concluded, "I'll take mine in stainless or glass, thankSo what is the solution?
you."I tell people that the two things that we should be
This choice is up to us and I'd like to share somedrinking from are glass or stainless steel...Period.
information to help you make the right choice.Glass is not always appropriate, although I often
I have a memory of one of my collegeuse a mason jar around the house, which leaves
professors teaching me about what he calledstainless steel an increasingly popular option.
'prudent avoidance'. Basically he used to ask us toAccording to a study by a British research group,
consider what is prudent and appropriate for usthere is no indication that the manufacture of
to avoid? This is a personal choice about what westainless steel causes any adverse effects on the
are willing to accept into our lives and each one ofhealth of those involved in its manufacture.
us has our own choices to make.Contrast this with the concerns we've discussed
In essence, this is what I talk about every dayabout plastic and heavy metal toxicity to the
when it comes to choosing what level of greenhuman body and that leaves one choice for me.
will work for each individual.When it comes to purchasing stainless steel there
My biggest concern is for all the children that wealso are some things to know -- the biggest of
are indoctrinating into the plastic lifestyle. When Iwhich is that there are many grades of it. The
was a kid (in the late 60's and 70's) plastic wasone that you want is the 304 food grade stainless
minimal in our culture. Over the past 40 yearssteel. In the industry it is also referred to as 18/8,
plastic has been inserted everywhere and withwhich stands for the amount of chromium (18%)
the way our younger generations are exposedand Nickel (8%) that it contains. A caveat - people
we just don't know what the long-term effectswho are allergic to nickel may have a low risk of
will be -- yet another reason to avoid them.an allergic skin reaction following direct and
Prudent avoidance really hit home for me as Iprolonged skin contact.
discovered some very interesting informationA Brief Primer on Life Cycle Analysis
about plastic and the impact that it has on ourLife Cycle Analysis (LCA) refers to the process
lives. I offer more detail below, but for those ofof evaluating ALL of the impacts of the life of a
you who just want the bullets here goes:product and then measuring the financial,
environmental and social impact of creating a
1. Never eat or drink out of a plastic containerproduct. It is an extensive process and in many
again. I know this is a hard one to swallow but weways is still in its infancy with regard to producing
have to make the best effort we can to reduceconsistent results.
our interactions with plastic containers. My goal is,Lifecycle is often referred to in two ways, both
"No more plastic bags or bottles," knowing that itof which are valid AND very simplified here:
will be tough to do, but worth the effort.
2. Never put any plastic in the microwave. We1. Cradle to grave -- an old way of thinking about
have all done it, we put the Styrofoam or plasticthe process that looks at the entire production,
bowl in the microwave and it comes out with thefrom creation of the materials to producing said
plastic around the edge bubbled. THAT is theitem to the burying of it, and
plastic melting into our food and thus we are2. Cradle to cradle, which is the new way of
consuming the chemicals associated with them.relating to the process. Using this approach, every
3. Never freeze plastic. The heat and coldstep along the way is considered until the product
extremes make the plastic in these containersis made into something new.
leach into the foods or liquids in the containers.On Plastics, BPA and Polycarbonate Use in our
4. Then there is the history of the container thatCulture
you are drinking from that you can't be sure of.According to a variety of research studies,
The convenience market across from my officeBisphenol-A (BPA) has been found to leach out of
stores its drinks in an outdoor metal walk-inpolycarbonate plastic water bottles, when heated
storage container. I live in Phoenix and it is entirelyin hot water, left in the heat, or frozen.
possible that the temperature inside that storageDepending on who you talk to, BPA is either
compartment will reach more than 180 degrees inperfectly safe or a dangerous health risk. This
the summer. That in itself does a number on thedefinitely falls into the category of something for
liquids in the containers. This is just the healthme to prudently avoid. The plastics industry says
concern; I'll leave the rest up to you on this one.it is harmless, but a growing number of scientists
5. Environmental impacts abound with plasticare concluding, from animal tests and other
throughout their entire lifecycle. In my articlestudies, that exposure to BPA in the womb raises
"Plastic is Forever" I cover a lot about plastics inthe risk of certain cancers, hampers fertility,
our environment. Issues about the production andcontributes to the onset of type-two diabetes,
disposal of plastics create other strong argumentsand could contribute to childhood behavioral
for using stainless steel bottles in lieu of plastics.problems such as hyperactivity.
6. One additional caveat in the realm of drinkingAccording to its critics, BPA mimics naturally
bottles concerns aluminum metal bottles, whichoccurring estrogen, a hormone that is part of the
often are touted as an environmentally healthyendocrine system, the body's finely tuned
option to plastic bottles. As far back as 1985,messaging service. "These hormones control the
Gary Price Todd, M.D. was quoted in Nutrition,development of the brain, the reproductive
Health & Disease saying,"The evidence issystem and many other systems in the
strong enough that the prudent person willdeveloping fetus," says Frederick vom Saal, Ph.D.,
eliminate all food and cosmetic sources ofa developmental biologist at the University of
aluminum."Missouri. "Endocrine-disrupting chemicals can
Depending on who you believe, aluminum hasduplicate, block or exaggerate hormonal
been said to contribute to Alzheimer's, essentialresponses. The most harm is to the unborn or
tremors and is touted by some to be a powerfulnewborn child," vom Saal says.
neurotoxin. I have recently dealt with some