Buying kids stuff from the thrift store

[Anonymous]

Um, if you are at all concerned about BPA, please do not send your kids to camp with Gatorade bottles. Gatorade is supposedly BPA free and made with PET, but the safety record for PET is not clear and there's limited data. PET contains antimony, which is a human health hazards. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2822166/

Under heat, plastic bottles leach chemicals into the liquid in the container. This is why it's not a good idea to keep packs of bottled water in your car. Bottles sit out in the sun at summer camps. I would not play Russian roulette with my kids' health.

It's fine to buy used metal water bottle from a thrift store. As the PP said, soak it in a 50% water/50% bleach solution. Then rinse and wash. Then put it in boiling water for 15 minutes. Any germs will be gone. That's certainly better than sending plastic Gatorade bottles. Ugh!

Stainless steel is one of the most non-reactive containers, aside from good old-fashioned glass.