And I’ve pointed out chemical additives that have been found to leach from “safe” plastics like polypropylene. My response: we can’t be sure any plastic is safe as long as we don’t know what chemicals are in the plastic and as long as those chemicals have not been tested. Plastic #1 (polyethylene terephthalate), the type of plastic that disposable water bottles are made of, is not made with BPA either. In fact, entire shelves of baby products are labelled BPA-free. Walk down the aisles of any drug store these days, and you’ll find rows of plastic products labelled BPA-Free. And BPA has a bad rap because it’s a hormone-disruptor. Polycarbonate is the plastic that is made from the chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA). We’re supposed to avoid plastics #3 (PVC), #6 (polystyrene), and #7 (polycarbonate).
So is the sport cap on Michael’s Klean Kanteen water bottle. Supposedly, #2 (high density polyethylene), #4 (low density polyethylene), and #5 (polypropylene) are safe, right? Does that mean the lid on my travel mug is safe? It’s #5 polypropylene. The Internet is full of charts listing the numbers of the various types of plastic and explaining which ones are safe and which ones are not. Which plastics are safe? I get that question all the time.
