Are stainless steel water bottles slowly poisoning you and your loved ones?

Posted by Tania Belkin in Popular | 6 comments

Has this ever happened to you?

You made a health conscious decision, but later found out that it wasn’t healthy at all.

Don’t you hate that feeling of being misinformed or mislead? I do!

Unfortunately, this is the situation with many stainless steel bottles; they can be dangerous and harmful to your health. This is often happens when you are not properly informed.  I know, common sense suggests that stainless steel bottles should not have any health risks, but this is not the case.

Why do we love stainless steel bottles?

Unlike glass, stainless steel bottles don’t break as easily, so we feel save safe getting these bottles for our kids.

Stainless steel water bottles are in style and as consumers we think they are the healthiest containers for our water and drinks.  So we don’t see any danger in using stainless steel bottles and therefore, buy them without questioning their quality.  Marketers and manufactures capitalize on this situation. They make these bottles shinny and visually attractive on the outside. But inside, the very part that touches your water, it’s a different story…

What is the problem with stainless steel bottles?

There are many hidden dangers making stainless steel bottles hazardous to your health. It is easy to pick up the wrong bottle if you don’t know what to look for.

To make this problem even worse,  you can find ‘Hazardous’ stainless steel bottles in high end stores, as well as in natural/health food stores.  We often trust the quality provided by these stores without questioning the quality of the product.  Inferior bottles sold in these stores are often just as expensive as top quality bottles, which is amazing, but true. So, again we think that the price is an indicator of quality, but this is not always the case.  Price is not an indicator of quality. It is an indication of the store’s margin as well as marketing and advertising expenses.

Fortunately, this problem is easy to solve. All you need is a little more knowledge and you are good to go.  Well then, the solution is simple. Get informed so you can make the right choices.  Let’s get to it.

What you need to know in order to avoid buying the wrong stainless steel bottles.

There are many obvious shortcomings of Stainless Steel Water Bottles, such as stainless steel on the outside and plastic on the inside. But there are many more subtle hidden dangers that are not so obvious.  You really need to examine the bottle and look carefully for these hidden dangers. 

So what should you look out for?

Below is the list of things you want to avoid:

Some manufacturers use plastic for screw tops.  Those plastic tops often have hazardous chemicals such as BPA, phthalates, lead, or other toxins.

In addition these plastic caps with use, release tiny shavings of plastic as you screw and unscrew the bottle cap.  These plastic shavings end up in you drink and in your stomach.

A stainless steel exterior with an aluminum liner:  these bottles often say ‘Stainless steel exterior’. When you read this, it is an indicator that something is wrong with these bottles.  Always check the fine print.

Aluminum on the inside of the bottle, covered with a clear plastic film is hard to notice at first glance, but as you use the bottle, you will see this plastic lining gently peeling off into your drink. Again, read the fine print.

A stainless steel interior that is not food grade:  if the label does not indicate ‘food grade stainless steel’, chances are it is not.

The above described “stainless” steel bottles should be avoided. Put them back on the store shelf.

So what then should we be looking for?

Quality stainless still bottles usually have:

100% food grade stainless steel interior.

No clear plastic lining inside of the bottle.

If there is plastic on the cap, in must be free of BPA, phthalates, lead, or other toxins.

Preferably no plastic parts that are in contact with your drink.

Most of these things are clearly labelled by manufactures because they are great selling points.  If nothing is mentioned, chances are that the stainless steel bottle you are looking at is hazardous to your health.

You can find better quality bottles in natural or health food stores. Store owners and buyers from these stores are usually better informed than employees of high end stores.  Your best bet is to speak to someone in the store who knows the product and who you can trust.  Again ask all the questions and read labels carefully.

My personal preference

I am a big fan of ‘Clean Canteen’ bottles. They have a 100% food grade stainless steel interior. And, you have a choice of stainless steel screw tops for all of their bottles; for water as well as thermos, (insulated) bottles.  I would rather not use any plastic in my food and drinks at all.  I am also sure that Clean Canteen is not the only company that produces top quality stainless steel bottles so look around and make your choice.

We recently purchased insulated bottles, which are great for coffee, tea and a cold summer drinks. We chose the plastic tops with stainless steel on the inside.  So our drinks don’t come in contact with plastic. Our drinks are contained in 100% food grade stainless steel.  How cool is that?

Here is the link to Buy Green.com (aff) we purchased our stainless steel bottles and bunch on other nice stuff there.

Whether you buy the Clean Canteen bottles or other ones, make sure to check all the points mentioned above, so you get something that is not hazardous to you and your family.

You need to make a right choices

If you recently purchased a “stainless steel” bottle, and after reading this article, realized that you made a mistake, get rid of it! Your health is more important than the money you spent!

So now you know that not all the stainless steel bottles are created equal.  You need to make a right choices.

Do you have an experience with good or bad stainless steel bottles?

If you have anything to add, please let us know by leaving comments below.

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Tania Belkin