Where did you see that number, administrator? On the top of the bottle?

Just curious. Is anyone here out of the country at this time? Can you peek at the other water bottles outside of china? What number is on the bottle?

Yes and no. Aren't you finding that now with access to every school and study ever done via the internet, there is almost quite literally nothing that hasn't at some stage been linked to health concerns?

And although I see your point about Canada banning it-look at the TB immunizations. Every country in the west does that except the States. Something as well studied as that, and still no conclusive evidence can be found.

I guess I would switch plastics though if it wasn't any hassle to do so.

You know, when they say "possible links" that sounds to me like it's marching down the road to where they will find that those that used this type plastic had a 2 in 1,000,000,000 chance of getting "x" disease, whilst those that didn't only had 1 in 1,000,000,000 chance.

Sure it makes us all concerned. But we're in China, not in a western country. Who's to say that the water pipes which supply your apartment aren't made of PVC which according to the green guide are also hazardous?

I thank you for making us forum people aware, but if it's scaremongering you want (or perhaps information dissemination on a wider scale), then I urge you (as a high powered magazine magnate) to seek better representation and report it to the govt controlled China Daily Newspaper. If they decide to print the story then, and only then might the Chinese Govt take notice of certain percentages of chemicals which should or shouldn't be appearing in their consumables, and summarily take action.

I remember saying to a Chinese friend during the time of the melamine scandal not to be overly concerned. They were in a panic as they drunk milk-powder every day, including most of their school/uni life (some Amway milk product thing). I mean, it's a good thing that this is exposed so things can change, but widespread panic leads to unproductive personal countermeasures.

Think about it... The vegetables we eat are mostly all GMO, they might also contain high levels of pesticides/insecticides. Any meat product (such as those spam like sausages), or rather any protein rich food might contain high levels of hormones/antibiotics/melamine. It is impossible to distinguish if the bottled water you drink is not just plain tap water. Tap water might contain high amounts of bacteria and heavy metals/chemicals. Even the air we breathe here in China contains a vast array of 'vitamins and minerals' which we are supplementing our already unhealthy diets.

So, the only way to solve this problem on a personal front is to leave the country. But we aren't doing that in the short term, so the best thing we can do in the mean time is find some way to get govt representation for these problems, then leave it to them to solve.

Worry only creates wrinkles before they are due to arrive.

Action precedes deliberation. Should you wish to contact China Daily I can find a number for you to call.. just PM me.

hmmn... thanks tufsoft... so is there an affordable solution for people renting apartments in China? After having a spate of health problems I had already switched to those 1.5L bottles of water about 6 months ago. But the weight of landfill is always on my mind, and I heard that to install a water filtration in apartments are really really expensive.

my bottle of water says '8' on it. is that bad? also says made by nestle, and 'pc'. so i have no idea what that means.

I had the same concern as you, but I found out that the water pipes used within most newer apartment buildings here is not PVC. I forget what it's called but it's a white plastic that when heated becomes wax-like, which makes it easy to join sections together. I don't know about the health risks, but I doubt it'd be much worse than back home where we use copper pipes held together with lead solder.

whoa... you can sell the empty bottles? To who? And how? Did u strike up a cooperative agreement with the convenience store?

And.. whilst this is a moot point because I'm sure they're all about the same, but which bottled water do you buy?

BPA won't kill you! There are chemicals everyone ingest from PLASTIC materials, DUPONT teflon coated cooking items, and lead GLASS.

All these leak into the foods and liquids you ingest. BPA as LEAD, and Teflon are really only dangerous when ingested by baby's- its said to cause a "dumb-dumb" kid (who takes the short yellow busses) or learning disabled child.

No plastics are truly 100% safe for 1 reason- they are made from Gasoline. They more they are used, they more they wear out.

Send the class action suit to Saudi Arabia and OPEC for your dumb kid. If sucking on plastic bottles don't dim them, the emissions from making plastic compounds will. People who work in factories making plastics and teflon have a 2000% increase in having a slow runts.

Yep, you're damned man! If you're gonna die slowly you might as well have some very hot girls deliver....

Wow, thanks admin for creating the topic and thanks to everyone else to contributing to it! I've learned a lot....

Yep, warnings about contaminated bottled water do give me cause to think about what's healthy and what's not. But, I also get a funny feeling that all the Cokes, Pepsis, and assorted liquors will have polluted my body and done more damage to my liver quicker than the plastic bottle problem. Does that stop me? Not on your life!

my mother-in-law uses the filters that you use with tap water so she just fills up the large bucket-thing on top of the water machine with tap water. It goes through an activated charcoal(?) dome-type filter set into the bottom of the bucket. All this goes where the large 19litre bottles fit on top of the water hot/cold machine. Hasn't killed us yet, but dont know what it has done to our livers.

1 ♳ PETE or PET Polyethylene terephthalate Polyester fibres, thermoformed sheet, strapping, and soft drink bottles.
2 ♴ HDPE High density polyethylene Bottles, grocery bags, recycling bins, agricultural pipe, base cups, car stops, playground equipment, and plastic lumber.
3 ♵ PVC or V Polyvinyl chloride Pipe, fencing, and non-food bottles.
4 ♶ LDPE Low density polyethylene Plastic bags, 6 pack rings, various containers, dispensing bottles, wash bottles, tubing, and various molded laboratory equipment.
5 ♷ PP Polypropylene Auto parts, industrial fibers, food containers, and dishware.
6 ♸ PS Polystyrene Desk accessories, cafeteria trays, toys, video cassettes and cases, and insulation board and other expanded polystyrene products (e.g., Styrofoam).
7 ♹ OTHER Other plastics, including acrylic, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, fiberglass, nylon, polycarbonate, and polylactic acid.