How Safe Is Your Bottled Water? RD Special Report The February 2008 Readers Digest: “Chemicals, contaminants, pollution, price: new reasons to rethink what you drink” by Janet Majeski Jemmott pg 118
“You’re spending more per gallon than you would on gasoline for this thing that you can get out of the tap virtually for free.” “Why am I spending so much time complaining about the price of gas?”
“We consumed over eight billion gallons of the stuff in 2006, a 10 percent increase from 2005.”
“People are questioning whether the water, and the package it comes in, is safe, or at least safer than tap water – and if the convenience is worth the environmental impact.”
“No one should think that bottled water is better regulated, better protected or safer than tap,” says Eric Goldstein, co-director of the urban program at the Natural Resources Defense council (NRDC), a nonprofit organization devoted to protecting health and the environment.”
More than 25% comes from a municipal supply; The water is treated, purified, and sold to us, often at a thousand-fold increase in price. Most people are surprised to learn they’re drinking glorified tap water.”
At least one sample of a third of the brands contained bacterial or chemical contaminants, including carcinogens, in levels exceeding state or industry standards. Since the report, no major regulatory changes have been made and bottlers haven’t drastically altered their procedures, so the risk is likely still there.
“Carry your plain or filtered tap water in a reusable stainless steel or lined drinking container, and clean it between uses. or choose glass over plastic whenever possible, recycle when your done!”
“Chemicals used in the plastics….are endocrine disruptors, which mean they block or mimic hormones affecting the body’s normal functions.”
“When exposed to high levels of phthalates during critical developmental periods, male fetuses can have malformed reproductive organs, including un-descended testicles. Some experts’ link phthalates to low sperm counts. Water bottles do not contain this chemical, which means it probably got into the water during processing at the bottling plant, or were present in the original water source.”
“Look for a filter system approved by the NSF (nsf.org) Wow!!! The Water we Love is on that site.
“Bottler’s don’t have to let consumers know if their product becomes contaminated, but some times they pull their products from stores. In fact, between 1990 and 2007, this happened about l00 times….among the reasons for recall: contamination with mold, benzene, coli form, microbes, even crickets.”
“Many people sip from a bottle that’s been sitting in a hot car, potentially dangerous move. “Leaving bottled water out in the car changes the chemical equilibrium so that the materials from the plastic go into the water faster.”
“Most bottled water comes in polyethylene terephthalate bottles, indicated by a number 1, PET or PETE on the bottle’s bottom.”
“Experts have raised a warning flag about a few specific chemicals. Antimony is a potentially toxic material used in making PET. Last year, scientists in Germany found that the longer a bottle of water sits around (in a store, in your home), the more antimony it develops. High concentrations of antimony can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
“The environmental toll: The potential health risks are important to understand, but bottled water also affects the health of the planet.”
“It takes about 72 billion gallons of water a year, worldwide, just to make the empty bottles.”
“It takes about two liters of water to make every liter you see on store shelves. “Bottled water has a significant environmental burden.”
“Fewer than 20 percent of them (plastic bottles) ever make it to a second life, according to estimates by the container Recycling Institute. The rest are tossed onto beaches and roadsides and into landfills, where they will be around for a thousand years.”
http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/rethink-what-you-drink/article51807.htmlRead more about the environmental toll at rd.com/bottled water
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