Polycarbonate water bottles have received plenty of bad press for releasing potentially toxic compounds into unsuspecting drinkers, but there may be another culprit: everyday plastic packaging.

A German study of commercially-available bottled water found contamination by chemicals that mimic natural sex hormones. When the researchers raised snails in the water, they bred with extreme rapidity — a warning sign that the chemicals were active. Contamination levels were twice as high in brands packaged in plastic instead of glass, suggesting that plastic was the culprit.

Many additives used to make plastic more durable and elastic are known to have endocrine-disrupting effects in laboratory tests, and the average developed-world body is suffused with these so-called xenohormone residues. Research suggests that the consequences, though not fully understood, are real: fetal xenohormone exposures have been linked to reduced virility in boys and the early onset of puberty in girls. The effects may even linger in subsequent generations.

It wasn't known, however, whether xenohormones entered human bodies from food-packaging plastics in addition to other already-established sources, including polluted air, personal care products and food additives. The latest findings, published recently in Environmental Science and Pollution Research, suggest that packaging is at least partly responsible.

"Our findings provide first evidence for a broad contamination of mineral water with xenoestrogens," write the researchers. "We may have identified just the tip of the iceberg."

大量报道反映聚碳酸酯水瓶有可能释放有毒化合物而消费者却不知情。日常塑料包装也可能是一大罪魁祸首。

德国的一项研究发现：市场上销售的瓶装水中含有类似天然性激素的化学污染物。研究人员在水中养蜗牛时发现蜗牛的繁殖速度极快——这是一个警告信号：该化学物质很活跃。 塑料瓶装水中污染物的含量是玻璃瓶的两倍，这表明塑料是罪魁祸首。

为了使塑料弹性更大、更耐久人们用了多种添加剂。测试表明，这些添加剂有干扰内分泌的效应。发达国家的人们体内充斥着这些被称作是xenohormone激素的残留物。 研究表明该残留物造成的后果目前还不清楚，但实实在在存在：男孩阳萎增多和女孩青春期提前与胎儿感染xenohormone激素有关。该影响甚至会传给后的。

然而，xenohormone激素除了经已有途径（如空气污染、个人保健品和食品添加剂）进入人体外是否经由食品包装塑料进入人体，以前人们并不清楚。 最新发现表明塑料包装要至少负部分责任。该研究报告发表在最近一期的《环境科学与污染研究》上。

研究人员说：矿泉水中普遍含有xenoestrogen激素残留物，我们的发现为此提供了第一证据。我们发现的也许只是冰山的一角。”