If you keep water bottles in your car in case you get thirsty while driving, you should stop.

Here's why. If you leave your bottled water in the car, it has the potential to reach an unsafe temperature. When it reaches a certain temperature, high levels of the chemicals BPA and antimony (a trace heavy metal) are found in the water from the plastic bottle. Good Housekeeping did a story on it, and a study was done by the University of Florida and Nanjing University in China on the effects of storing bottled water at three different temperatures, 39 degrees, 77 degrees and 158 degrees. Every single temperature came back with high levels of both chemicals in the water.

If you drink a hot bottle of water once in a while, I don’t think that’s a concern. One is no problem. Even a few is no problem. It’s cumulative.

BPA is known to cause a number of health problems. It mimics estrogen in the body (scary!) and can completely disrupt hormone function. As for antinomy, the trace heavy metal, that has been known to contribute to various diseases such as lung and heart disease.

The author of the study, Lena Ma, says "If you drink a hot bottle of water once in a while, I don’t think that’s a concern. One is no problem. Even a few is no problem. It’s cumulative."

I have heard this info in the past, and didn't know how true it was...but figured I'd be cautious and not leave water in my car anyway. I used to all the time, but haven't in a few years since hearing that the BPA in plastic water bottles was a contributing factor to Sheryl Crow getting cancer. Sometimes I forget, and I do leave water bottles in the car, but I won't drink them. As much as I hate to waste them, I dump the water out and recycle the bottle. I don't want to take any chances!

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