Is freezing bottled water or leaving it in a hot car dangerous?
Both of these concerns have circulated widely in emails and on the Internet. One email that has been around for several years warns that freezing bottled water leads to contamination with carcinogenic dioxins. The email was erroneously attributed to Johns Hopkins University, and it was so widespread that Johns Hopkins’ scientists felt compelled to publicly set the record straight in a news release. Rolf Halden, PhD, PE, who is an adjunct associate professor with the Johns Hopkins Center for Water and Health, called the claim “urban legend.” He notes that there are no dioxins in plastics and that freezing actually slows or prevents the release of chemicals. The industry group representing single-use beverage bottle manufacturers, known as NAPCOR also used the term “urban legend” to describe claims that it is unsafe to drink water that has been left in a hot car. “The idea that (these) bottles ‘leach’ chemicals when heated in hot cars is not based on any science, and is unsubstantiated b
Both of these concerns have circulated widely in emails and on the Internet. One email that has been around for several years warns that freezing bottled water leads to contamination with carcinogenic dioxins. The email was erroneously attributed to Johns Hopkins University, and it was so widespread that Johns Hopkins’ scientists felt compelled to publicly set the record straight in a news release. Rolf Halden, PhD, PE, who is an adjunct associate professor with the Johns Hopkins Center for Water and Health, called the claim “urban legend.” He notes that there are no dioxins in plastics and that freezing actually slows or prevents the release of chemicals. The industry group representing single-use beverage bottle manufacturers, known as NAPCOR also used the term “urban legend” to describe claims that it is unsafe to drink water that has been left in a hot car. “The idea that (these) bottles ‘leach’ chemicals when heated in hot cars is not based on any science, and is unsubstantiated b
