U.S. Food and Drug Administration used to call plastic a “food contact substances,” thereby implicating that plastic can contaminate your food and drink. Thus, the term “you are what you eat”. When you eat and drink food that was stored in plastic, it’s tantamount to eating plastic. Now, they call it “indirect food additives” to cleanse its name of the implication of contamination.
While plastic has remained to be ubiquitous, there is continuous debate with regards to chemicals leached to the liquid that a plastic water tank contains. The change in terms may be a semantic deception. But does the migration of chemicals from the container to the water really take place? If yes, is the government taking steps to put a stop to this?
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What’s Up with Plastic?
There is indeed a difference between water that is stored in a plastic water tank from those that you get directly from the faucet. When testing was done among plastic jugs, 8 out of 10 polycarbonate containers were found to have leached BPA of bisphenol –A into the water from .5 parts per billion to 11 parts per billion. However, this range is so small that it shows to have no significance at all in the grander scheme of things. US federal regulations for testing BPA and other chemicals have not even come anywhere near the parts per billion ranges. Even in FDA laboratories, their researchers have found that migration of these substances happen within acceptable range. But if you want to be extra careful about your safety, you may disregard containers with BPA. They are the ones with the #7 sign.
What’s Up with Steel?
This is why plastic water containers are more widely accepted and used than steel or metal. Steel, being the most commonly used of all metals, can corrode in moist atmospheres and other climate conditions. Unlike plastic, steel and other metal containers made of lead can rust and result to lead poisoning. With plastic, you won’t have any of these problems. Especially when you make sure that your water is not stored too long to prevent your water from stagnating.
The fact can never be discounted that the use of plastic is ubiquitous. It is used almost everywhere, from milk containers, food containers, to huge water tanks. This is because it is convenient, with its lightweight property and its ability to absorb high impact shock without having to break. Furthermore, it is fairly affordable. It comes in many colors, shapes and sizes, is generally safe to use and can even save lives. So with that being said, which would you choose — plastic or steel? You decide.
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