For years, advocacy groups have been raising concerns about bottled
water: Not only do bottles end up littering the landscape, and not only
are those plastic bottles derived from fossil fuels, but they also may
leach chemicals into water and the quality of the water is not
stringently monitored.
But many Americans have a healthy distrust of advocacy groups. If you’re
one of them, then consider this. The Government Accountability Office,
the well-respected and nonpartisan research organization that serves
Congress, has concluded a yearlong investigation, and come up with
basically the same conclusions. http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-861T. Here’s a summary:
Water Quality
Surveys have shown that perceived health benefits are behind the
staggering increase in the consumption of bottled water — from 13.4
gallons per person in 1997 to 29.3 gallons per person in 2007. While on
paper, the Food and Drug Administration limits on contaminants in
bottled water mirror the Environmental Protection Agency’s strict limits
on contaminants in tap water supplied by community water systems, that
doesn’t mean bottled water is as closely watched or as safe as tap
water. Here’s why:
* Phthalates
Unlike the EPA, which has set limits on phthalates in water, the FDA
has stalled for more than 15 years in publishing a limit on the
phthalate DEHP in bottled water. DEHP is an ingredient in plastic,
and (the GAO report does not detail the chemical’s potential health
effects as we do here) laboratory studies have linked some
phthalates to problems with male fertility — including decreased
sperm counts and penis and testes sizes — with obesity, and with
other health problems related to hormonal imbalances. Several
phthalates have been banned in children’s products for this same
reason: They inhibit the normal function of testosterone, the male
hormone.
* Testing
While the EPA requires drinking water suppliers to use certified
labs to test their water, the FDA does not have this authority.
Further, test results don’t have to be reported to the FDA — even
if the test results show violations of drinking water quality
standards. Even those states that have rules that exceed FDA
requirements typically don’t match EPA requirements.
* Labeling
While the EPA requires public drinking water systems to annually
publish the results of water quality testing, along with information
about the drinking water source and known threats, the FDA does not
require this of bottled water companies. The GAO reports: “In 2000,
the FDA concluded that it was feasible for the bottled water
industry to provide the same types of information to consumers that
public water systems must provide. However, the agency was not
required to conduct a rulemaking requiring that manufacturers
provide such information to consumers, and has yet to do so.”
* “High Risk” Regulation
The GAO has repeatedly warned that the FDA is not up to the task —
lacking staff, funding and regulatory authority (while seeing
staffing drop 19%, the facilities it was charged with inspecting
increased 28% between about 2001 and 2007) — to adequately police
the nation’s food supply. In January 2007, the GAO noted that the
nation’s food safety is a “high risk” area, in great part because it
is policed by 15 separate agencies. Drinking water is only one more
example.
Environmental Impact
* Waste
While recycling of carbonated beverages, like soda and beer, is
encouraged in many states with deposit laws, these bottle bills are
much less common for bottled water. As a result, about 75% of water
bottles are thrown in the trash, rather than recycled.
* Energy
“Regarding the impact on U.S. energy demands, a recent peer-reviewed
article noted that while the production and consumption of bottled
water comprises a small share of total U.S. energy demand, it is
much more energy-intensive than the production of public drinking
water.”
There are reasons to keep bottled water around: It’s handy in case of an
emergency, for instance. In most everyday cases, however, it’s better
for you and the environment to use a reusable water bottle and tap water
(filtered if you think it improves the taste). Many of the issues with
bottled water that the GAO identified can be solved with changes in
regulation: Water quality could be assured if it matches EPA standards;
labeling could provide full disclosure of source, testing contaminants
detected; the nation’s food safety regulatory structure could be totally
overhauled; and recycling rates could be improved with new bottled
deposit laws. However, bottled water will remain an item that lacks
commonsense as long as U.S. tap water remains among the safest and most
rigorously tested in the world.
The Daily Green previously summarized the problems with the bottled
water industry like this:
The 7 Sins of Bottled Water
1. Plastic bottles are made from petroleum.
2. The bottles often go into the trash, rather than the recycle bin (in
part because many states don’t offer five-cent deposits to encourage
recycling, as they do on soda and beer cans and bottles).
3. The water is pumped far from where it is sold, creating needless
pollution as trucks and barges transport it across the country or
around the world.
4. Some local communities have objected to the sale of their water,
arguing that the water underground or flowing from natural springs
is publicly owned and should not be exploited for profit.
5. Bottled water is rarely as closely monitored as tap water.
6. Tap water in the United States, when provided by a municipal system,
is the most highly monitored and safe supply in the world.
7. Some of the water sold in little plastic bottles is tap water, but
it costs an awful lot more per gallon.
– from thedailygreen.com