Sheriff Blast ... you're absolutely right about two things. First, it is time to experiment. And I've really got no excuse there, because I just set up a fire pit in my backyard. So I'll try hanging some plastic bottles over it and see what happens.

Second, you said "Chemical myths about plastic from John Hopkins University. Sidenote: when he get's to the part about phthalates (PBA) he neglects to mention how little phthalate gets extracted by hot water. I'm too tired to look up my calculations based on the most commonly quoted research papers on this subject but it was in the thousands of LITERS of water per KILOGRAM of body weight before you had enough to POSSIBLY have some noticeable effect on the body. I suspect that much water would cause a problem before the phthaltes would."

That's also quite helpful for me to know. You're probably aware that the media did publish some articles about the presence of phthalates in standard drinking water (plastic) bottles a while ago. I use a lot of these, and have been wondering if there's any long-term problem. So it's good to know that there isn't.

other Pete