Plastic bottle

[2][3] Plastic was invented in the nineteenth century and was originally used to replace common materials such as ivory, rubber, and shellac.

[6][7][8] However, the biggest advantage plastic bottles have over their glass counterparts is their superior resistance to breakage, in both production and transportation.

Karin Michaels, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, suggests that toxins leaching from plastics might be related to disorders in humans such as endocrine disruption.

Plastic water bottle plants hold a low priority for inspection due to a continuously good safety record.

[16] In 2018, research conducted by Sherri Mason from the State University of New York in Fredonia revealed the presence of polypropylene, polystyrene, nylon and polyethylene terephthalate microparticles in plastic bottles.

[17] The research was reviewed by Andrew Mayes of the University of East Anglia (UEA) School of Chemistry[18] The European Food Safety Authority suggested most microplastics are excreted by the body, however the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned that it is possible that the smallest particles (< 1.5 μm) could enter the bloodstream and organs, via the intestinal wall.

For example, in poor countries, empty two-liter soda bottles have been reused as an improvised personal flotation device to prevent drowning.