Bottled Water http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottled_water
Bottled water
has been described as "one of the
greatest cons of the 20th century" and as "marketing's answer to the emperor's
new clothes".
Health effects
While tap water
contamination incidents must be reported promptly to the public, the same is
not true for bottled water,
(see the list of more
than 100 bottled water recalls)
In 22 percent
of brands tested, chemical contaminants
were found at levels above state health
limits. Some of the contaminants found in the study could pose health risks if consumed over a long period of time.
Another study
found that a high percentage of bottled water, contained in plastic containers,
was polluted with estrogenic chemicals.
Bottled water
versus tap water
In a study
comparing 57 bottled water samples and tap water samples, all of the tap water
samples had a bacterial content under 3 CFUs/mL . There were 15 water bottle samples containing 6-4900
CFUs/mL.
In another study comparing 25 different
bottled waters, most of the samples exceeded the contaminant level set by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) for mercury,
thallium, and thorium. Being exposed to these contaminants
in high concentration for long periods of time can cause liver and kidney damage, and
increase risk for pancreatic and lung disease.
Most bottled
water manufacturers in the United States either add fluoride to their product or provide
a fluoridated bottled water product. (Not required to put on the label).
The Natural Resources Defense Council,
Sierra
Club, and World Wildlife Fund argue that bottled water is
no better than tap water, and
emphasize the environmental effect of disposable plastic bottles.
The Showtime series Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
Demonstrated that diners could not discern between bottled
water and water from a garden hose behind the restaurant.
Bottled water Environmental Impacts
90 percent of
the cost of bottled water is bottling, packaging, shipping, marketing,
retailing, expenses and profit.
The Environmental
suffers from groundwater extraction, energy used in plastic packaging,
transportation costs,
water quality, all resulting from invalid marketing claims.
Packaging Bottled Water in Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), requires a significant amount of energy to produce. In the US, plastic used to create bottles uses an estimated 15 million barrels of oil annually.