Around two
million plastic bottles are bought every five minutes all over the world.
At the
bottom of the bottle, you will find a triangle with a number, which can be
anywhere from one to seven. With the symbol you see, you can tell
whether the plastic you hold is safe or not.
Number 1
Known as
PET or PETE, the bottle with this number means that it should only be used
once. This is because reusing them can expose people to a chemical
substance called EPA. The plastic could possibly emit antimony, which is a
heavy metal that can interfere with the hormones in the body. It is also
possible that the plastic is carcinogenic.
Number 2
If you
find a triangle with the number “2” in it, the bottle is known as HDPE or
HDP, which is considered the good plastic. It is named so because it
doesn’t have as much emission as the other types of chemicals
used in the other bottles when in contact with water.
Number 3
Also
labeled as V or PVC, the number 3 in the bottle means that it has two toxic
chemicals that can both influence the hormones in the body. Still, PVC
is the most used type of plastic around.
Number 4
LDPE
plastics have the number 4, which means they don’t emit chemicals
when used in water bottles. However, most of them are actually
present in plastic bags.
Number 5
PP or
number 5 plastics are also good types of plastics. They are recognizable
because of their white color. Sometimes, they are transparent.
PP plastics are common in cups of yogurt and syrup bottles.
Number 6
Although
this emits STIREN, which is carcinogenic, this plastic is used in fast food
packaging as well as in coffee cups.
Number 7
Finally,
plastics with no labels are in this category where they are known as PC. You
should not trust plastics without labels because they often emit BPA,
which is a very harmful chemical. Unfortunately, PC plastics are common
in containers for food, sports drink bottles, and worse, infant
bottles.
If your
bottle has 2, 4, or 5, you shouldn’t really worry. However, if it is labeled,
1, 3, 6, or 7, you are exposing yourself to the dangerous chemicals
that these plastics emit.
