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Bottled Water Dangers

Bottled water poses a health risk for 3 reasons: 1) The water inside is often made with filtered tap water and still contains all of the impurities found in tap water (fluoride, pharma drugs, sex hormones, etc). 2) The bottles most commonly used to bottle water leach harmful chemicals into the water. And 3) If you only drink some of the water and save the rest for later, bacteria will start to accumulate and can reach dangerous levels.

Here are a few articles to hammer home these points.

July 01, 2007 by Tiffany Blue

Many people buy bottled water, especially when the weather is heating up, it is important to have water. With reports that refilling/reusing the same bottle repeatedly, if not washed properly, can make you sick. Leading people to buy a new bottled water every time instead, thinking that they are doing something good for their bodies.

Researchers have now examined the plastic the holds the water, and the have found some chemicals certain types of plastic contain, like phthalates and bisphenol A, may seep into the water. These toxins can disrupt the endocrine system, messing with your hormone balance. This can cause fatigue and even weight gain. Defeating the purpose of your workout/playing outside/ etc... heck it defeats the whole idea of drinking water to be healthy.

You can avoid a toxin overdose, a good place to start in by educate yourself on the plastic holding your water. You can find out what kind of plastic the bottle is by looking at the bottom of your bottle, there should be a resin code. This tells you what kind it is.

Here is a quick rundown on the most commonly used and safest kind of plastics.

PET (or PETE) 1: Polyethylene terephthalate, Is the kind of plastic that is most likely what your clear single-serve water bottle is made of. It has been deemed safe for one-time use, but refilling may increase risk of chemicals leaching out into the water. Not recommended for re-use/re-filling.

HDPE 2: High-density polyethylene, this plastic is commonly used for gallon jugs, and has not been linked to any leaching.

PP5: Polypropylene, is a plastic that is easily molded. Meaning it is made with fewer chemicals than other plastics, and has not been linked to leaching.

Plastics you should avoid:

#3 polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), it has endocrine disruptors and probable human carcinogens.

#6 polystyrene (PS) can leach styrene into food and water.

#7 polycarbonate, contains a bisphenol-A (a hormone disruptor). However, it is used in most baby bottles, five-gallon water jugs and reusable sports bottles.

Bottled Water Becomes More Toxic Over Time

German researchers have found that the longer a bottle of water sits on a store shelf or in a household pantry, the higher the dose of antimony it contains. Amounts of this potentially toxic trace element were measured for 15 brands of Canadian bottled water and 48 European brands. Concentrations reached more than 100 times the average level of antimony in pristine groundwaters (2 parts per trillion).

However, the concentration was even higher after the bottles were left to sit at room temperature for six months. Antimony concentrations in the Canadian bottled waters increased by 19 percent, concentrations in the European brands increased by 90 percent.

Most of the water tested was packaged in bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Antimony trioxide is used as a catalyst in the manufacture of PET. The different concentrations of antimony in the various brands might have been caused by differing temperatures, water pHs, or exposure to sunlight.

Bottled Water Bacteria Problems

Independent research is being done on an ongoing basis on bottled water. One study from the UniversityĀ of Texas looked at the fact that no recommendations exist around the issue of storage of bottled water once it has been opened and consumed.

They wanted to know if it was safe to drink out of a bottle of water and then seal it up for later. This study found that the bacterial count of bottled water went from one colony per milliliter to 38,000 colonies per milliliter when stored at room temperature after 48 hours. The bacterial counts were much improved when the product was refrigerated with 50% fewer colonies found in refrigerated water.

Tap water was much better with minimal growth of bacteria (<100 colonies per milliliter) after 48 hours refrigeration. The researchers recommended drinking bottled water and throwing away what can't be consumed immediately.

Another group of researchers at Baylor University looked at whether or not bottled water was safe for contact lenses. Some people feel it's pure enough to rinse your contacts in. The bottled water was tested and 48% contained live microorganisms, including disease-causing coliforms.Ā Yeast or molds were recovered from 7 out of 23 brands tested.Ā Amoeba, a dangerous parasite, was found in two samples the team tested. They concluded that bottled water is too contaminated to be used to rinse a person's contact lenses in.

Finally, a group of investigators from Case Western University felt that the increased use of bottled water "because it is purer than tap water" is based on misguided assumptions. They compared tap water and bottled water and found that the optimal fluoride content in bottled water existed in only 3 of 57 bottled water samples tested. The bacterial counts were higher than 1000 colony forming units (CFUs) in 6 bottled water samples.

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