In hot weather, many car owners are used to keeping some plastic bottled water in their cars, such as mineral water, purified water, etc., and they can just take a bottle to drink when they are thirsty. However, after the car is exposed to the sun for several hours, the whole car is hot, and the bottled water will also be "heated". Is it safe to drink it like this? Some netizens forwarded the article "Putting bottled water in the car and drinking it after being exposed to the sun will cause cancer" in their circle of friends, which aroused people's concerns and heated discussions.

On August 12, the reporter interviewed relevant experts to clarify the facts.

Car owner: The mineral water bottle was deformed by the heat and I dared not drink it

Although it is the beginning of autumn, the recent weather is still hot and unbearable. After the car is placed outdoors and exposed to the sun, a heat wave will hit when the car door is opened. The seats are all hot, the dashboard cannot be touched, and staying in it for a few minutes will make you sweat profusely...

Mr. Zhao, a citizen of Taiyuan, is an old driver. He put a box of mineral water in the car and took a bottle to drink from time to time. Because of his work, he has to park his car on the roadside every day during the day, often in the sun for a whole day. The weather has been very hot in recent days. When he drank water, he found that some of the bottles of mineral water were deformed and soft, and they were still hot when he touched them. "I dare not drink it. The Internet says that it is toxic and carcinogenic in this case." After that, Mr. Zhao no longer stored water in the car, but bought it as he drank it.

The reporter randomly visited residents near Taoyuan Road in Taiyuan City and found that there were many car owners who held similar views as Mr. Zhao. Everyone believed that it was toxic to put bottled water in the car and then expose it to the sun. The reason is that after being exposed to the sun, the plastic bottles containing mineral water will react chemically with the heat energy of the sun, releasing some new chemicals such as plasticizers. These chemicals are toxic and harmful to the human body, and may even cause people to suffer from cancer.

One car owner further stated that after a thermometer test, it was common for the temperature in the car to reach 50 degrees Celsius under the scorching sun. At the hottest time, the temperature inside the car can reach 70 degrees Celsius to 80 degrees Celsius. Intuitively speaking, this temperature is already the temperature of hot water. After the plastic bottle becomes soft, will it release toxic substances? This is indeed worrying.

Expert: Generally speaking, it is okay and will not affect health

So, is it really the high temperature that makes the plastic bottle of bottled water react when it encounters heat and releases toxic substances?

"It makes no sense that high temperature causes bottled water such as purified water and mineral water to release carcinogens. And it is meaningless to link cancer with drinking bottled water placed in the car." Li Wanjie, a professor of polymer chemistry and physics at the Department of Chemical Engineering of Taiyuan University of Technology, said that under normal circumstances, purified water, mineral water and other bottled water are placed in exposed places, cool and ventilated places, and their plastic water bottles will not release toxic substances due to the external environment.

In response to the questions raised by Mr. Zhao and other car owners, Li Wanjie gave a clear explanation. "Normally, it's OK and won't affect your health." He said that whether bottled water will produce toxic carcinogens is related to the material of the plastic bottle. Turn over the bottle of purified water or mineral water in your hand, and you can see a small symbol on the bottom of the bottle, with the number "1" written in a triangle. This is one of the most common plastic materials, PET (polyethylene terephthalate), and most purified water, mineral water, and beverage bottles are made of this material.

PET has a very stable structure, and its melting temperature exceeds 250 degrees Celsius. To undergo chemical changes, it must be above 100 degrees Celsius. Obviously, the temperature inside the car cannot reach that. However, the appearance of the bottle may change, and this is only a change in physical form.

Li Wanjie further explained that plasticizers are carcinogenic, but not all plastics use plasticizers, and not every plasticizer may cause cancer. For example, polyvinyl chloride PVC, the most common material for sewer pipes, uses a lot of plasticizers in production. It is very unreliable to use it to hold water for drinking. The above-mentioned PET bottles do not add plasticizers.

Li Wanjie concluded that the materials of the bottles of bottled water such as purified water and mineral water that are common in daily life are safe and can be exposed to the sun. It should be noted that when purchasing these drinking waters, it is best to choose well-known and reputable brands.

Extension

Do not expose bottled juice to the sun

In fact, in addition to bottled water, there are also bottled juice and other beverages placed in the car by the car owner. So, are bottled juices not afraid of exposure to the sun?

Li Wanjie said that the material of most juice bottles is PET, the same as that of ordinary purified water and mineral water bottles, which is safe. To destroy it, a high temperature of 220 degrees Celsius is required. So even if the juice bottle is boiled in boiling water, the bottle will only deform and will not release harmful substances.

However, the reporter noticed that the outer packaging of most bottled juices on the market is marked with the words "avoid direct sunlight and high temperature". "Although the juice bottle itself is safe, there are still risks after being exposed to the sun." Li Wanjie said that the juice contains sweeteners, which will be decomposed at high temperatures, so the taste of the juice will definitely be much worse after being "sauna-like" in the car. Moreover, once the juice is opened, it is easy to deteriorate in a high temperature environment. It is definitely unsafe to drink it at this time.

Li Wanjie said that in addition to the possible impact on health, this unsafe factor may also cause an explosion. Because juice contains a certain amount of water, the chemical structure is unstable and it is easy to ferment. One of the products of fermentation is gas, and the gas gathers in a small space and is suddenly released, which may explode. "Therefore, unlike drinking water, juice exposed to the sun in a car is unsafe."

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