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4 Scary Things About Bottled Water

4 Scary Things About Bottled Water

Tap water is regulated by the EPA as well as state and local governments, but bottled water is only checked by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA doesn’t even get to most food plants every year, with some plants going five or ten years between inspections. Though the FDA is supposed to test bottled water at the same standards as the EPA, FDA guidelines are years behind the EPA’s. Here are some of the more disturbing examples:

  • Municipal water is not permitted to contain E. coli or fecal coliform bacteria. FDA rules for bottled water include no such prohibitions.
  • Municipal water from surface sources must be filtered and disinfected, or it must have strict pollution controls. There are no filtration or disinfection requirements for bottled water at the federal level. The only source-water protection, filtration or disinfection provisions for bottled water are delegated to the states, and many states have adopted no meaningful programs.
  • Cities must have their water tested by government-certified labs. No certification requirement exists for bottlers.
  • Municipal tap water must be tested for coliform bacteria 100 or more times a month. New York City takes 500,000 samples of its water per year. That’s nearly once a minute all year long. Bottled water plants only have to test once a week.

The Natural Resources Defense Council conducted an extensive battery of tests on more than 1,000 bottles of water of 103 brands to find out just how clean it is. Nearly one in five brands contained, in at least one sample, more bacteria than allowed under microbiological-purity guidelines adopted by some states, the industry, and the European Union.

Bottled water likes to sell itself as being pure in its little clear bottles, but the fact is nearly 40 percent of bottled water is tap water with added minerals or filtration and there’s no guaranteed safety just because it’s wrapped in plastic–and in fact there’s some risk. Municipal water has an advantage in that it is constantly moving, keeping fresh and avoiding stagnancy. Water bottles, though cleaned, are not sterilized. Relatively low amounts of bacteria at bottling can multiply to a much larger problem by the time bottles hit store shelves. Bottled water frequently is not chlorinated, allowing bacterial and fungal growth within the bottle.

If that weren’t enough, the bottles themselves can cause trouble, besides the environmental havoc they create. Phthalate is a chemical used to soften plastics and make it less brittle. But when heated, even from a hot day in the car, they begin to leach into the contents of the bottle. Phthalates can cause reproductive difficulties, liver problems and increased risk of cancer. While phthalates are regulated in tap water, the FDA maintains an exemption for bottled water.

Food & Water Watch is an organization dedicated to the belief that the public should be able to count on our government to oversee and protect the quality and safety of food and water. For more information, go to www.foodandwaterwatch.org.

Read more: All recipes, Drinks, General Health, Health, , , , ,

83 comments

+ add your own
9:26PM PST on Dec 25, 2011

oh crap!

11:57AM PST on Dec 19, 2011

i always new these things were no good. thanks for the info.

4:42PM PST on Dec 14, 2011

And I thought that bottled water is good for you...

2:38PM PST on Dec 14, 2011

Too many thirsty people!
Good business for private companies and more business for pharmaceutical companies ,- more sick people....Again, it's all about the money.... Why the GOVERNMENT should care about the people...Too many on the Earth already.....
Install your Britta filters at least, dear friends....
Thanks for the article!!

2:31PM PST on Dec 14, 2011

The only time I drank bottled water was when touring Thailand, India, Nepal and China where the water was unsafe to drink because of pathogens.

2:09PM PDT on Oct 3, 2011

Bottled water costs more than gasoline. It's true! Check it out. It's actually cheaper to drink petrol! That's how much bottled water companies are ripping us off. A licence to print money, better than oil, cheaper to extract.

3:40AM PDT on Jun 9, 2011

I have install a water filter in my tap, and i've stoped buying bottled water.

1:25PM PDT on Mar 13, 2011

That's it. I'm convincing my mom to stop buying bottled water.

9:14AM PST on Jan 18, 2011

More research is needed to produce plastic bottles that do not become toxic in use!!

9:13AM PST on Jan 18, 2011

Best to filter water from the tap, and store some in small glass bottles for every day use outside the home!

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