Your ‘pure’ bottled water has contaminants, too
Study finds 38 chemicals in 10 brands, including those common in tap water
Tests on leading brands of bottled water turned up a variety of contaminants, including cancer-linked chemicals three times higher than California's health standard, according to a study released Wednesday by an environmental advocacy group.

The findings challenge the popular impression — and marketing pitch — that bottled water is purer than tap water, the researchers say.

However, all the brands met federal health standards for drinking water. And most of the detected contaminants are common in tap water, too.

Lab tests detected 38 chemicals in 10 brands, with an average of eight contaminants found in each kind of bottled water. Tests showed coliform bacteria, caffeine, the pain reliever acetaminophen, fertilizer, solvents, plastic-making chemicals and the radioactive element strontium.

The two-year study was done by the Washington-based Environmental Working Group, an organization founded by scientists that advocates stricter regulation. It bought bottled water in California, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.

Sam's Choice, Acadia post high levels
Researchers tested one batch for each of 10 brands. Eight of those did not have troubling levels of contaminants. But two brands did, so more tests were done and those revealed chlorine byproducts above California's standard. The researchers identified those two brands as Sam's Choice sold by Wal-Mart and Acadia of Giant Food supermarkets.

The other eight, which researchers didn't identify, carried legal levels of many contaminants. Some of those chemicals, like arsenic and the solvent toluene, have been tied to health risks. Some of the contaminants apparently came from pollutants often found in tap water, and others probably leached from plastic bottles, the researchers said.

In the Wal-Mart and Giant Food bottled water, the highest concentration of chlorine byproducts, known as trihalomethanes, was over 35 parts per billion. California requires 10 parts per billion or less, and the industry's International Bottled Water Association makes 10 its voluntary guideline. The federal limit is 80.

Water researcher Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment of the University at Albany, who had no role in the study, singled out trihalomethanes as the biggest concern because of strong research links to cancer.

"These are levels that should not be in bottled water," he said.

Giant Food officials declined to comment. Instead, company officials released a brief statement asserting that Acadia meets all regulatory standards.

Acadia is sold in the mid-Atlantic states, so it isn't held to California's standard. In most places, bottled water must meet roughly the same federal standards as tap water.

The researchers also said the Wal-Mart brand exceeded California's limit by five times for a second chlorine byproduct, bromodichloromethane.

The Environmental Working Group said it notified California's attorney general of its intent to sue Wal-Mart. The group wants the company to label its bottles in California with a warning of cancer-causing chemicals. Wal-Mart did not respond to a request for comment.

Joe Doss, president of the International Bottled Water Association, said he would not defend any company that is exceeding the standard in California. "If they have exceeded it, they should meet it," he said.

Chlorine linked to birth defects
The chlorine byproducts, which studies have also linked to birth defects, presumably come from chlorine used as a disinfectant, which ends up in public water systems. Tap water is often repackaged and sold as bottled water, and the researchers say that was true of these two brands.

"In some cases, it appears bottled water is no less polluted than tap water and, at 1,900 times the cost, consumers should expect better," said Jane Houlihan, an environmental engineer who co-authored the study.

The researchers recommend that people who are worried use a carbon filter for their tap water.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27185076/
[Edited 10/15/08 6:52am]

I have had our water tested ( spring/well ) several times over the yrs and each time they tell me it's clearer/cleaner then most bottled water - and that's before it goes through the house filters

Mach said:

that's really important for good health. what with recent studies on trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in treated drinking water, imo it's pretty crucial to have an in-home filter on the faucet. or two filters

XxAxX said:

our water source is around 2,600 feet above sealevel or somthing close

we have a main filter at the incomming water source and the sink filters at each sink

Mach said:

that's really smart. come to think of it i could use another filter too....

but i always wonder if the filters add fluoride or dont filter fluoride period. I know the britta filters do not.

do the reverse osmosis units at the stores where you bottle your own get everything?

horatio said:

i dunno. good question. sometimes i wonder about the tiny bits of charcoal that come from the filter. better than drinking some old guy's diluted viagra, but still....

XxAxX said:

XxAxX said:

BlackAdder7 said:

SOMEone needs a hug

XxAxX said:

thanks, i needed that. you smell pretty

BlackAdder7 said:

well it's not MY fault my diapers leak

Yeah, but bottled water tastes better than tap.....

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

exactly

bottled water? hell, i just dip one of my shoes in a street puddle.

My daughter needs to read this, she won't drink anything else.

NDRU said:

not here it doesn't!

Anxiety said:

yes, here in minnesota our water quality is THAT good

I love.... Fiji

bottled spring water, water from a reservoir, deep sea water, any water from a natural source is best.

some tap water comes from re-used toilet water.

and some of those big name bottled water comes from tap, they just 'purify' it. i forget which bottled water company did this but, they got their water from a polluted river (don't remember if it was in chicago?)

we even have a filter on our sink tap.

XxAxX said:

actually, i travel to fiji, where i dip a number of shoes into their local street puddles, then i carefully wrap them in plastic, then enjoy my refreshing beverages upon my return home to the twin cities.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

Most bottled water is tap.

carmand said:

yeah, it's just purified tap water.

LoyalAndTrue said:

Either way. I like the taste of bottled water more than straight-out-of-the-tap water.

Anxiety said:

such a freak

Mach said:

he is an 'artist'. and those artist types are always doing.... creative things

XxAxX said:

We are all gonna die from something one day either from bad air to natural causes.