Fact or Fiction:

Drinking out of a plastic water bottle left in a hot car can lead to cancer?

That’s the buzz on the Internet.  It’s convient, fresh and clean.

Or is it?

“The problem with water bottles is, it’s made of plastic,” said Dr. Ravi Patel with Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Center. ”And there’s different kinds of plastic. Plastics actually release different chemicals in different situations.”

Dr. Patel, founder of the Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Center, says heat can release cancer-causing toxins, which leak from plastic into water and even food.

There are two chemicals he says pose the biggest threat.

“Dioxin and another one,  BPA, Bisphenol A, These two products are connected to plastics and that has been associated with a whole host of health issues including birth defects, cancer. A variety of things,” said Dr. Patel.

17News contacted Dr. Patel after receiving an email that suggested leaving bottled water in your car is very dangerous. The email said plastic water bottles have been been identified as the most common cause of high levels of dioxin in breast cancer tissue. (more…)