[ale] restricting web input

[James Sumners]

On Tue, May 5, 2009 at 6:00 PM, Paul Cartwright <ale at pcartwright.com> wrote:
> try snopes.com and search for a urban legend.. I can't seem to cut & paste the
> results.

I'll take your challenge.

============== Begin Paste ==============
Bottle Royale
Claim:   Reusing, freezing, or heating plastic water bottles will
cause them to break down into carcinogenic compounds or release
dioxins.

	MIXTURE OF TRUE AND FALSE INFORMATION

Examples:

[Collected via e-mail, 2007]

No water bottles in freezer. A dioxin chemical causes cancer,
especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of
our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as
this releases dioxins from the plastic.

[Collected via e-mail, 2007]

Do Not Drink Water Bottles Left in the Car

This information was given to me by my husband and I know all the
ladies in my life should know and please forward it to all the ladies
in your life.

My husband has a friend whose mother recently got diagnosed with
breast cancer. The doctor told her women should not drink bottled
water that has been left in a car. The doctor said that the heat and
the plastic of the bottle have certain chemicals that can lead to
breast cancer. So please be careful and do not drink that water bottle
that has been left in a car and pass this on to all the women in your
life.

[Collected via e-mail, 2009]

On the Ellen show, Sheryl Crow said this is what caused her breast
cancer. It has been identified as the most common cause of the high
levels of dioxin in breast cancer tissue. Sheryl Crow's oncologist
told her: women should not drink bottled water that has been left in a
car. The heat reacts with the chemicals in the plastic of the bottle
which releases dioxin into the water. Dioxin is a toxin increasingly
found in breast cancer tissue. So please be careful and do not drink
bottled water that has been left in a car. Pass this on to all the
women in your life.


Origins:   Sorting out the various claims made about potential health
issues associated with
plastic water bottles is a difficult process, both because so many
different claims are being circulated and because the generic term
"plastic bottle" can in fact refer to any one of several different
types of bottles with distinctly different chemical properties.

Water, soda, and juice are typically sold in bottles made from
polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET or PETE. These
containers are intended to be disposable, single-use bottles, although
many consumers wash them and re-use them to hold drinking water (or
other beverages). One common claim referenced above is that freezing
or re-using PET bottles releases "dioxins" into whatever liquids they
may contain, but of this claim Johns Hopkins researcher Dr. Rolf
Halden says:
Q: What do you make of this recent email warning that claims dioxins
can be released by freezing water in plastic bottles?

A: This is an urban legend. There are no dioxins in plastics. In
addition, freezing actually works against the release of chemicals.
Chemicals do not diffuse as readily in cold temperatures, which would
limit chemical release if there were dioxins in plastic, and we don't
think there are.
Another common type of plastic bottle is made with bisphenol A, also
known as BPA. These products are typically rigid plastic bottles
intended for multiple re-use, such as baby bottles or water bottles
carried by cyclists. Concerns about tests that may link BPA ingestion
with cancer and reproductive damage in some animals and the
possibility that BPA could leach out of plastic bottles and into the
liquids they contain has led to bans in some areas on the use of BPA
in plastic products intended for children (such as baby bottles), and
has prompted some consumers to seek out non-BPA alternatives.

Last updated:   8 April 2009

The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/plasticbottles.asp

Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2009 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson.
This material may not be reproduced without permission.
snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.

	
Sources:

    Cassutt, Melissa.   "Glass Bottles Pacify Fear of Chemical."
        The [Colorado Springs] Gazette.   25 June 2007.

    Merle, Renae and Ylan Q. Mui.   "For Parents, Bottle Safety Still Unclear."
        The Washington Post.   22 August 2007   (p. D1).

    Pelletier, Jenna.   "A User's Guide to Plastic."
        The Boston Globe.   28 September 2008.

    CBC News.   "Study Links Plastics Chemical with Cancer."
        28 August 2006.

	


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-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59