One of the easiest ways for endocrine disruptors to enter your body is by directly ingesting them, such as through water in a plastic bottle. If you haven't read my article on toxins in plastic yet, that's a good place to start (and important to know why you should care!). If you already have, here's a brief refresher. Disposable water bottles are usually made of PET plastic, which is linked to organ damage, cancer, and developmental and reproductive issues due to the leaching of antimony, bromine, and other endocrine disruptors (especially estrogenic ones!) and carcinogens. Reusable plastic water bottles can be made from almost all the different types of plastic, so you should check the Resin Identification Code number on your bottle's bottom.
Let me begin by saying that there are no perfect options. The absolute best choice is a glass, stainless steel, ceramic, wood, or bamboo cup, but then it wouldn't really be a water bottle, would it? The absolute worst choice is a disposable plastic bottle. These have specifically been found to leach phthalates, estrogenic chemicals, and tons and tons of other endocrine disruptors. It's even worse if you reuse the bottle since the amount of leaching increases with every use.
Currently, no water bottles use natural rubber gaskets to my knowledge, so the minimum amount of plastic required is a plastic or silicone seal. Of those two options, silicone is usually the better one. Many other water bottles have plastic tops or lids with plastic on the inside, which is a step better than bottles made entirely of plastic but not as good as ones with non-plastic lids, like some of the ones I'll be discussing. It's important to check the full materials of a water bottle, to ensure no plastic is hiding on the inside, especially on the interior of the lid.
The first option is glass bottles. Glass is a really great choice for the body material, but it might take away from some of the convenience of water bottles, just because glass is so breakable. I also have not found any glass bottles with only silicone gaskets. The best possible glass bottles are ones like this or this, with stainless steel or bamboo exterior lids with inner coatings of plastic. Some options also have silicone or polyester grips. Although glass bottles have some plastic, they're much better than ones made fully of plastic. Besides being safer than plastic, one benefit of glass is it's dishwasher-safe!
Option number two is stainless steel. There are tons of stainless steel water bottles with plastic lids. That might even be your current situation! The next step better than that is a stainless steel water bottle with an outer cap of stainless steel or bamboo and an inner layer of plastic. There are lots of choices for these, but some I've found are S'well and que, the latter of which actually has an inner ceramic coating with an outer body of stainless steel!
If you decide to go with any of those, make sure to handwash all plastic pieces even if it says it's dishwasher safe, to reduce the amount of leaching. However, I think the best water bottle is one with just a silicone seal, as mentioned before. There aren't many water bottles with only silicone seals. There are some less-trustworthy bottles, especially random ones on Amazon, that claim to be plastic-free, but they may not use pure silicone in their seals or only stainless steel, so I wouldn't go with just any one you see that claims to be plastic-free, even if it looks like it. Make sure you verify with the manufacturer the entire materials list. Here are three brands I trust!
First up is Klean Kanteen, which carries five plastic-free bottles, the 27-ounce Reflect, the 32-ounce TKPro, the 25-ounce TKPro, the16-ounce TKPro, and the 25-ounce Insulated Classic with Pour Through Cap. These bottles are made from 18/8 stainless steel, bamboo, and food-grade silicone. The TKPros and the Classic are insulated, and the Reflect is not. Everything is dishwasher safe except the bamboo cap, which needs to be hand washed and quickly dried, and never soaked, since water absorption can damage the bamboo, but I wouldn't put anything with silicone or insulated bottles in the dishwasher to prevent damage.
Another great brand is Tree Tribe. These ones are super similar to the Reflect, with 18/8 stainless steel on the inside, 18/10 stainless steel on the outside, silicone for the seal, and bamboo on the lid's top. They come in 20- and 34-ounce bottles with lots of fun designs, and they're insulated! Tree Tribe also plants a tree for every sale, so that's another awesome bonus!
Last but not least - and the one I recommend most - is Ape2o. This is the bottle my family and I use! Ape2o's bottles are about 16 ounces - just the size of regular plastic water bottles so they can easily fit in the side pouch of a backpack without falling out! They're 100% food-grade stainless steel, minus the silicone gasket. The bottles are insulated, and when I've tested it, my water still had ice cubes after over 24 hours in it! My family has also had great experiences with keeping tea hot all day. Ape2o is a certified B Corp (recognition for its emphasis on people and the environment) and has been recognized as a Best for the World B Corp 2022! They also have water refill stations (with great filters and UV sterilizers, so the water is truly clean) in multiple locations in England and donate 10% of their sales to ocean, beach, and river cleanups and conservation projects. And their customer service is top-notch!
There are plenty of water bottle options out there, none of which are perfect. Whatever you choose, make sure to handwash all plastic pieces and remember anything is better than disposable bottled water!
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