In ancient Rome the citizens enjoyed hot, spiced wine mixed in lead bowls. During preparation, the hot acidic wine would leach the toxic lead from the bowl and into the drink. No one paid the practice a second thought. With so much lead in their bodies, it's no wonder some of the emperors went crazy (see Mad Hatter).
My hunch is that plastics are the lead wine bowls of our time. Reports like this and this are coming out regularly suggesting damage from bisphenol A (BPA), an ingredient in some plastics.
The most damaging evidence so far is that people with the highest BPA levels were three times more likely to have heart disease.
Perhaps our descents will look back centuries from now and wonder in amazement, "They used plastics for drinking hot liquids?"
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