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You may need to stop refilling your plastic water bottles

Turns out, reusing water bottles could not only be just plain gross, but it could also lead to some serious health consequences.

refilling plastic water bottles

But here's some bad news: You may need to stop refilling that old plastic bottle, pronto.

Turns out, reusing them could not only be just plain gross, but it could also lead to some serious health consequences.

According to an article published on Cosmo, taking a swig out of that gigantic Smart Water bottle you've been using for a week without washing could be the equivalent of licking your toilet seat.

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Yes, you read that right. Cosmo reported that Treadmillreviews.net tested plastic water bottles that an athlete had been refilling for a week, and the results were chilling.

One of the water bottles reportedly had over 900,000 colony-forming units per square centimeter on average.

That's more than your average toilet seat. (And so is this.)

And while our germaphobic tendencies sometimes cause more harm than good, this may not be one of those instances.

The research revealed that 60 percent of the germs found were capable of making people sick.

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So, if you're one of those people who reuses their water bottles frequently and find yourself feeling sick, that plastic water bottle could be to blame.

However, while their findings may concern you, it's also worth noting that the results of this study are not completely ironclad.

It's unclear what controls were placed on their experiment, which could account for discrepancies between the various types of water bottles they tested.

Furthermore, the study fails to compare the bacteria from these unwashed bottles with that from a water bottle that was regularly washed and refilled, depriving us of a point of reference to properly compare this study's findings.

But, while the safety of plastic water bottles may be debatable, check out these 6 other deadly health hazards that may be lurking in your home.

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And, if you're looking for a water bottle that you don't need to think twice about, maybe head over to Amazon and snag one of these Klean Kanteen water bottles.

Correction: An earlier version of this article overstated the dangers of refilling plastic water bottles, and also recirculated a debunked myth concerning chemical leaching from heated plastics. We regret the errors.

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