PET Bottles and the Triangle Sign

Have you received that sms text message about beverages and plastic drinking bottles?

The one that has this line:

The plastic called Polyethylene Terephthalate or PET bottles contain potentially carcinogenic elements (cancer causing chemical agents) Check bottom of bottle, there's a triangle sign with a number 1... any number under 5 will release the chemical especially of...

One would naturally be skeptical of all these forwarded sms text messages. Anyway, this is what you'll find online:

Recycling Symbols -- (On the triangle symbol enclosing the number 1) "PET, also referred to as polyester, is a popular packaging material for food and non-food products because it is inexpensive, lightweight, resealable, shatter-resistant and recyclable."

Don't use repackaged water -- "The triangle with 1 enclosed signifies that the material is PET, and not if it is chemically safe or not. If you research properly, you will find that there is no study conducted yet, that confirms that water bottles leach out hazardous leechate. So until someone does check, we should not spread baseless and wrong information."

Here's a copy of the forwarded email (UPDATE: Dinesh Babu took down the page), which can easily be modified and slanted to attack specific products which use PET bottles.

You'll notice that in the forwarded email, the emphasis is placed on the number of times you reuse the bottle.

Since the page was taken down, here's a cached copy so that this post will make sense:

You know we use plastic/pet bottles everyday for drink/water. If you looked at the bottom or somewhere around it, you would find a number enclosed in a triangle.

What’s in a number? Well, here is something I got from a forward. I am going to admit that I didn’t have an idea about this until now. I knew repeated usage of plastic bottles can be harmful, but I was ignorant to this detail. But, better late than never. The general tip is, if you would like to reuse a bottle then the number in the triangle at the bottom should be >= 5, otherwise it is meant for using only once.

Code/Number: 1
Plastictype: PET
Polyethylene Terephthalate
Use: Soft drink bottles, some shampoo and detergent bottles

Code/Number: 2
Plastictype: HDPE
High Density Polyethylene
Use: Milk bottles, household cleaners, supermarket bags

Code/Number: 3
Plastictype: PVC
Polyvinyl Chloride
Use: Detergent bottles, some shampoo bottles, film for eat wrapping

Code/Number: 4
Plastictype: LDPE
Low density Polyethylene
Use: Bread bags

Code/Number: 5
Plastictype: PP
Polypropylene
Use: Bread bag tags, jars, some wrapping film

Code/Number: 6
Plastictype: PS
Polystyrene
Use: Yogurt and margarine containers, meat trays

Code/Number: 7
Plastictype: All other resins and mixed plastic

As you know chemical released by plastic water bottles can cause cancer
(It is not the water that affects you but the chemical released from the
bottle)

How to avoid: Check the bottom of the bottle there should be a triangle
sign and there will be a number on it. If the number is higher than or
equal to 5 –> then this bottle is safe to use. Numbers under 5 will
release the chemical. For most bottled water, the number is 1. Remember to
check and stop reusing those bottles.

Notice that the forwarded message focuses on the code numbers and makes no mention of specific products.

Anyway, here's a sample modification/adaptation that is being repeatedly posted as a comment in several blog entries online:

Beware of dringking [name of beverage]. Its not the [beverage product] that affects you but the chemical released from the bottle. The plastic called Polyethylene Terephthalate or PET bottles contain potentially carcinogenic elements (cancer causing chemical agents) Check bottom of bottle, there's a triangle sign with a number 1... any number under 5 will release the chemical especially of [name of product], since [product's manufacturing process] and filled into the PLASTIC BOTTLES WHILE HOT. No wonder the [detailed description of product's packaging]. Please advise family, friends especialy childre. Please Pass.

It's quite easy to detect when a comment is posted in good faith, and when it is copy/pasted and cross-posted a tad too many times within the span of just a few seconds.

Nice try, Bob! ;-)

[ First posted on 08/10/2006 by Manuel Viloria ]