If you’ve been opting for a metal reusable bottle to avoid ingesting microplastics, you may be doing more damage to your body than you realise.
Plastics are bad for us; we all know that. So many of us, in an effort to save ourselves and the environment, have opted for metal drinking bottles instead. They are much more resilient and recyclable. They also don’t fill our bodies with microplastics.
But a man in Taiwan has recently died from poisoning caused by his metal water bottle. He had been using the same thermos for over a decade, and it eventually killed him. Chemicals released by the deteriorating metal had gotten into his body and induced pneumonia.
For almost a year, the man had been suffering from ill health. Doctors were unable to identify what was causing it. However, on further investigation, they figured out his water bottle may have poisoned him.
Numerous toxins, including lead, had been found in his blood. They were able to link it back to the water bottle he had been using for over a decade. Through overuse, it had begun to rust and corrode inside, causing the man to ingest the metals it was made of.
Corrosive Drinks Kill
The man died from his water bottle poisoning within a year of being diagnosed with pneumonia. The lead poisoning from his drinking bottle was irreversible. Doctors had no way of telling when the poisoning had begun.
“The thermos may have been used for a long period of time, and in particular, toxins generated when containing carbonated beverages such as cola may have entered the body,” doctors explained to a local outlet.
Although water is relatively uncorrosive, many sugary, carbonated drinks are not. Things like Coke can be used to clean everything from metals to toilets. They are incredibly corrosive and over the years will eat into metals.
Doctors suspect that the prolonged use of his bottles, with liquids such as these, leads to the breakdown of the bottles. As a result, he was poisoned slowly by his water bottle, only realising too late. Doctors advise recognizing your water bottle occasionally and only buying food-grade materials.