We are all used to getting a drink when we’re thirsty from a nearby water source. How much of the time do you find yourself using a plastic water bottle? Probably more than once.

Recent studies have shown that many health issues such as cancer have been linked to the use of plastic water bottles. Many people have also been speculating over the chemicals that may come from plastic water bottles.

There is a known myth that a bottle of water left in the car should not be drunk. This is because the heat from the car’s interior and the plastic combine to make dioxin chemicals which are left in the water.

Water, soda, and juice are typically sold in bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET or PETE. These containers are meant to be single-time use and disposable. However, many people will re-use these bottles to hold drinking water.

One common claim is that freezing or re-using these bottles will create poisonous “dioxin” chemicals that are released into the liquid that the container is holding. However, many doctors will disagree with these claims.

“This is an urban legend. There are no dioxins in plastics. In addition, freezing actually works against the release of chemicals” says researcher Dr. Rolf Halden. “Chemicals do not diffuse as readily in cold temperatures, which would limit chemical release if there were dioxins in plastic, and we don’t think there are.”

So does that mean that it is completely safe to drink from plastic water bottles?

According to research, no harm is done from plastic bottles, but another major issue that may not relate necessarily to health is the pollution and damage caused to the environment by these plastic bottles.

Every year, more than 25 billion water bottles are used around the world. Of those 25 billion water bottles, 80 percent end up in landfills and aren’t recycled. In 2007, over 1.5 million barrels of oil were used to make plastic water bottles consumed by Americans.

It is surprising to many that such a common thing in everyday life can cause so much damage to the world.

Even when people do recycle the water bottles in an attempt to help, they do not realize that most of the bottles are down-cycled; meaning they are turned into other appliances which leads to the need of virgin plastic for new bottles.

There is a belief that every adult should drink 8 bottles of water a day, a myth most likely created by water retailers. There is no scientific evidence to prove this and while it is important to stay hydrated, this is akin to saying every adult should eat 8.2 pounds of food a day.

So what can be done to fight the environmental water bottle problem? The best solution is to just use a refillable water bottle instead of the plastic ones bought at the store. This would reduce the demand and also save tons of money for people, considering the average water bottle costs $2.50.

Many encourage the consumption of water from glasses, or just to not buy the water bottles at all. Surprisingly, many studies have shown that faucet water from the top eight cities for water ranked higher in quality than Dasani water.

Drinking from water bottles may not seem threatening, but the potential problems should make students stop to think.