Email forwards. If you’re a woman, you probably receive a boatload of email forwards from friends, aunts, and work colleagues. These chain mail messages often overflow with quotes, graphics, and second- or twelfth-hand stories warning you about some danger of daily life.

Well-meaning though they are, email forwards, especially ones about health matters, can sometimes be pure fiction. But even the most obviously erroneous of urban myths may have started from some kernel of truth, right? What about the one many women receive on or around breast cancer awareness months - that freezing or heating water bottles can give you breast cancer?

via Medbroadcast: Myth. This got started when someone erroneously reported that dioxins were used to make plastic bottles and could leach into food or drinks. In the first place, plastic bottles do not contain dioxins. And even if dioxins, a toxic chemical, were to be found in plastic bottles - which, again, they are not - freezing would actually make it harder for the chemicals to be dispersed into the contents of the bottle. This warning may have sprung up from the justified concern over heating plastics. Phthalates, another class of chemicals used to make some types of plastic more flexible, have been found to be a hormone disrupter and could find their way into foods when those types of plastic are heated. To be on the safe side, opt for plastic products designed to be microwaved, or use ceramic or glass bottles.

Keep reading to get the facts about 6 more breast health-related theories …

You might also want to check out:
Is it time to put away plastic bottles?
Recycling guide for 7 common consumer plastics
BPA: Is my baby’s bottle dangerous?