Water is a BIG issue for everyone but it is in many ways especially important for smokers. Amongst the tips below is one on Body Burden. If you are a smoker you MUST read that article. Basically, your body can only take so much and at some point it "gives up" from too much burden to its chemistry and youend up with cancer, lung disease, etc. So, the goal for a smoker is to MINIMIZE the contamination you give your body beyond smoking. Now, remembering this, read on..................

Drinking water (H2O) should be a safe and healthy habit but it is not. The bottles that your water comes in may not be safe at all either for you or your family.To my knowledge there are 5 major classes of water bottles. 1. Glass. This is safe and easily reusable after washing. Best is to use glass (and any other bottle for water) with a wide mouth rim as narrowing mouths on bottles are harder to wash clear and harbor germs from preevious use and users which can be dangerous.However, the smooth surface of glass is always easier to clean than plastic. 2. Single use PET (Polyehthylene terephthalate) bottles. This is typical for store bought water bottles like Dasani. Do NOT reuse them as the sides crinkle and harbor bacteria and if you keep these bottles in warm areas the plastic can degrade and mix in with your water! Rememebr as well that most store bought water is not very much better if at all than what you get from the tap at home. 3.Polycarbonate (found in popular brand water bottles like Nalgene). Do not even think of using these bottles as BPA (bisphenol A- an estrogen mimic) leaches into the liquid at room temperature and the warmer the temperature the more that leaches.The dangers include birth defects, some cancers,etc. 4.High Density Polyethylene (HDP)- This is an opaque plastic that is less appealing to look at than the clear plastics but is much safer.If you must get bottled water a reasonable guess is that if the bottle is not clear, it is HDP. 5. Stainless Steel containers are becoming more popular. They are safe. many are made of a light weight steel which looks like brushed aluminum. (Avoid aluminum containers!!!!) However, if possible try to get steel containers that are not made in China as there is no reason to believe that the metal is contaminant free. My advice? When possible bottle your own water from the tap. Use whatever level of water filtration you can afford. (Reverse Osmosis, Pur, In tap filtration etc.) Decant your water for a hike, etc. in glass or light steel containers. Avoid any plastic for your children because the Lord only knows what contaminants are leaching into the water that they will drink and what the long term side effects are. As for straws try to decrease their use as well. Most are made in China. The quality of the plastic is under no regulation. The plastics used in their manufacture vary and more than likely leach harmful chemicals into the fluid you are sipping though the straw. This may be even more harmful for kids. You can warm glass or steel but every other container responds to heat by releasing more harmful materials. A final note. Why follow what I say when the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) does not offer these warnings? Let's understand that within the EPA are many brilliant, good and honest people that, if they had their way, would do much more to save our environment and minimize toxic damage to your body from environmental dangers. But,industrial lobbyists are constantly pressuring the agency directly and through both the present administration as well a many in a lost Congress (who have forgottten that they serve the People and not the multinational lobbyists) and as such have undue influence that alters EPA objectivity. In addition, the present administration has demonstrated that it has little or no interest in these matters and often favors industry positions over the overall well being of consumers. So, you need to take the EPA formal position with great cynicism which yields to politics- rather than science quite often. This is beyond the control of its scientists who often are themselves at odds with what their uberbosses decide.