Amazon Delivery Driver Says Customers Need to Stop Ordering This One Item Amid Sweltering Heat: ‘We Gotta Stop’
Microplastics may be in your water.
Being an Amazon delivery driver is a job that comes with its highs and lows. While some deliveries go off without a hitch, drivers are often subjected to physically demanding conditions—like the heat. Amid the extreme summer heat in many cities, one delivery driver urged customers to stop ordering a certain item: plastic bottled water.
Delivery driver Paper (@paperrfr) shared a video on his TikTok, seemingly filmed at the back of an Amazon delivery truck, to warn customers about the potential dangers of ordering cases of bottled water online. In his video, he pointed out the heavy case of Essentia alkaline water that he was delivering.
“To the people who keep ordering this f****** water from Amazon, I’ma tell you a thing or two,” Paper said. The delivery driver claimed that the back portion of the truck—where the packages are stored—is subject to high temperatures due to the lack of air conditioning.
Driver warns about ordering plastic containers in rising heat
Paper said that the temperature that afternoon was around 93°F at the time of filming, and the heat inside the truck allegedly reached as high as 110°F. Paper can also be seen sweating, seemingly confirming the heat conditions he and the packages endured.
Paper doubted whether Essentia alkaline water’s promoted 9.5pH would mean anything when the crate of bottled water had already spent several hours under sweltering temperatures due to the plastics. “Um, so, you know. Your 9.5pH isn’t really doing s*** when the plastic has leached into the water,” Paper said. “So… enjoy those microplastics.”
One woman also went out of her way to warn others about leaving bottled water under the sun. So, Paper’s concern when it comes to plastic colliding with high temperatures is not totally unfounded.
Microplastics seep into the water
While it has become the norm for people to take bottled water with them, such as in cars, trips, or even on sports days, you might want to rethink storing your water in plastic. Per TIME, researchers have found that plastic packaging is susceptible to heat and sunlight and have discovered traces of microplastics in bottled water.
Some substances used to create plastic, such as the metal antimony and bisphenol A (BPA), were reportedly breaking down. With high temperatures, chemical compounds would transfer to the contents within—an incident that shouldn’t happen, especially to consumables.
Researchers say that one of the plastic chemicals found seeping into food, phthalate esters, were found to be unhealthy and function as an endocrine disruptor. However, researchers reportedly still lack evidence on the effects plastic chemicals have on the human body as a whole—though they recommend to limit plastic where possible and avoid exposing it to heat.
While Paper seemingly only wanted to warn customers of the possible risks of microplastics in their water, some viewers were not as receptive. “Just deliver my package lil bro,” one comment read. “No difference of it being delivered to a store on a truck,” another said.
Others claimed that not everyone had the means to make purchases in-store and pointed out Amazon’s allegedly lackluster working conditions. “While I understand your perspective as a fellow delivery driver, a lot of disabled people unfortunately rely on this when they don’t have access to clean drinking water at home. Your beef is with Amazon for their poor working conditions, not individuals,” a comment said.
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