It could be tempting to use a garden hose for transporting drinking water in some situations. Perhaps on camping trip or if you have a small cabin in the mountains. A garden hose is certainly cheaper than real water pipe and it is very easy to install and connect to faucets and such. But – most garden hoses are not made for drinking water. Especially vinyl hoses should never be used for this purpose, since they are made from pvc (polyvinylchloride) which contains some substances which are supected of being hazardous to human health. Probably the most infamous ingredient in pvc is the socalled pthalates, which are used to soften the material. These are suspected of causing hormonal changes and birth defects in our unborn children – and possibly breast cancer. The evidence is not yet conclusive, but the point is that it can’t hurt to observe the principle of caution here.
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