Drink to your Health?

Put down that Nalgene bottle, health and environmentally concious consumer! That's right, i'm talking to you; tree-hugging backpackers and fit-crazy athletes - it turns out that your hydration habit may not be as good for your health as you think.

Wait? What? Resuable water bottles can't be bad for us, they save tons of fossil fuels and space in the dump by replacing disposable plastic water bottles. They keep us hydrated, which we know is healthier than drinking sodas or sports drinks. It's even financially efficient, for those of us lucky enough to live in countries like the US where we've got safe, clean, free tapwater available.

So we Nalgene addicts thought we were doing something right. Sure, it's a status symbol too, why else does everyone have a water bottle that looks exactly the same, give or take a few faded stickers from cool foriegn countries or hip bands. But, undoubtedly, our intentions were in the right place. So, now it just hurts to find out that our nalgene habit may be seriously hurting our reproductive health.

Bisphenol A is a chemical compund that is used in plastics, like food containers and water bottles. It's been shown to interefere with cellular signalling pathways important to ferility and reproduction, according to materials from Alaska Community Action on Toxics. The potential negative impacts of the popular chemical additives has generated big news, even starring in an article in Vanity Fair last month about protecting one's fertility from the complex, chemical environment we've created for ourselves.

Currently being studied by government funded research, Bisphenol A remains in many of our day to day plastics. Reports indicate that it volitalizes when heated, so that hot water and microwaving can mobilize the chemical into our food and water more rapidly.

Right now, for many of those nalgene carrying young women, fertility is the farthest thing from our minds, except of course for temporary "anti-fertility." But, it's dangerous to believe that our reproductive health isn't something we need to worry about until we are ready to reproduce. 12% of all US reproductive aged couples report problems concieving or carrying a pregancy to term, and it could very well be linked to the unprecended and unstudied chemical exposures in our day to day lives.

So, what's a thristy, environmental, health concious young woman supposed to do now? Luckily, plenty of marketing has caught on to the Bisphenol A contraversy, and there's a fresh new line of aluminum and other non-plastic water bottles hitting the market that are chemical-plastic free. And, as the newest thing, they might end up hip too. Now is your chance to be on the cutting edge in water-bottle technology! So, while one more sip from that old nalgene certainly won't kill you, when you manage to lose this one or just feel ready for a change: make the small switch to a re-usable bottle that might make a big step toward protecting your health.