Environmental Controversy - Resources and Pollution

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Toxins on tap?

Turner, Lisa. Better Nutrition 63.12 (Dec 2001): 48-50.

Whether it is for health reasons, drinking those requisite eight glasses a day, or to avoid chemicals and

pollutants from the public water supply, bottled water has come into its own as the beverage of choice.

Although tap water quality and taste may be acceptable, its questionable variables make bottled and

home-purified water look better.

Headnote

earthwatch

Headnote

Why bottles and purifiers really hold water

There was a time when we scoffed at the idea of bottled water. After

all, why buy water when you can get it from the tap, seemingly for

free? Times have changed, however. Today's health-conscious

consumers, even kids, are toting bottles of water. Whether it's for

health reasons, drinking those requisite eight glasses a day, or to

avoid chemicals and pollutants from the public water supply, water

has come into its own as the beverage of choice.

And it's not only just plain ol' spring water, either. The past few years

have given us myriad waters to choose from-glacial, artesian,

oxygen-enriched, purified and even functional water that's been

fortified with vitamins, minerals or herbs. Bottled is certainly popular-

it's a $5 billion dollar business in the U.S., alone.

In fact, its popularity is growing so rapidly that it's poised, in this

decade, to become the second largest beverage segment after soft

drinks says Jonathan Hall, publisher of "The Hall Water Report." But

is bottled water really better?

WATER BUGS

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Americans are definitely turning off the tap, partly in response to the quality-inconsistency of municipal

water supplies. In 1993, a water-borne outbreak of Cryptosporidium in Milwaukee, Wisc., caused an

estimated 400,000 residents to become ill with flulike symptoms, leading to several deaths among those

who were immune-impaired. Cryptosporidium, a waterborne parasite that thrives in animals and is

transferred through animal waste, has been found in rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs and in other types

of surface water.

That's not all. An August 29, 2001 report put out by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),

"Developing Strategy for Waterborne Microbial Disease," says that the "consequences of microbial

[bacterial and parasitic] contamination are severe."

WHAT'S IN YOUR WATER?

Adequate chlorination kills much of the harmful bacteria in water, but this chemical process can produce

trihalomethanes (THMs), which are cancer-causing compounds formed when chlorine interacts with

organic matter. Meanwhile, toxic waste, agricultural pesticides and heavy metals continue to cloud our

water supply. Even if your municipal water supply is safe, home water delivery systems are suspect:

Water pipes can contain harmful amounts of lead, copper, radon and other contaminants that can leach

into your water supply.

One such contaminant called Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE), is a chemical compound that is created

through the chemical reaction of methanol and isobutylene and has been mainly used as a fuel additive

oxygenate that raises the oxygen content of gasoline.

Unfortunately, the EPA has found that "a growing number of studies have detected MTBE in ground water

throughout the country, and above 40 parts per billion (ppb) may cause cancer or other unknown

adverse health effects."

A CLEAR CHOICE

Is bottled better than what's on tap in our faucets? According to an August 2000 study by the water-

industry Internet portal, Bottled Water Web, Consumer Focus, "Sixty-one percent of Americans believe

bottled water to be healthier than tap water, and out of that 61 percent, 53 percent believe that tap

water has some contamination or chemicals that are not present in bottled water."

Aside from consumer perception, the truth is that bottled water is strictly regulated at the federal level by

the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as at the state level. Tap water is also regulated as

a utility by the EPA, while bottled water is regulated by the FDA as a pure food product and must satisfy

all applicable food-packaging regulations.

The bottled-water industry is self-regulated. In fact, members of the International Bottled Water

Association (IBWA) -which oversees the production of about 85 percent of the bottled water sold in the

U.S.-must meet strict IBWA standards more stringent than the FDA's own regulations.

Therefore, most bottled-water companies use one or more the following practices and technologies:

1) Source protection and monitoring

2) Reverse osmosis

3) Distillation

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4) Ozone treatment, known as ozonation

5) Disinfection, such as chlorination

Although tap water quality and taste may be acceptable, its questionable variables make bottled and

home-purified water look better. In fact, while 75 percent of all bottled water comes from protected

sources such as springs, tap water comes primarily from rivers and lakes, sources of unpredictable purity.

THE BOTTOM LINE?

Hydration. No matter what type of water you choose, or what source you get it from, be certain to drink

at least eight glasses of water each day.

A recent study that was commissioned by the Nutrition Information Center at New York Hospital-Cornell

Medical Center in New York City, found that only 20 percent of respondents meet the important "eight a

day" recommendation. Barbara Levine, Ph.D., R.D., director of the Center, says, "The net result is that

most Americans are probably only getting about a third of the valuable hydration benefits they need.

In fact, babies, toddlers and pregnant women are at a special risk for dehydration. Parents should

monitor the fluid intake of infants and toddlers since they're unable to express thirst.

Even older children will often not stop to take a drink and need to be reminded to take "water breaks" on

a regular basis. Pregnant women need to accommodate the fluid needs of their developing babies;

nursing mothers need to replace lost fluids, too.

The vast majority of Americans are not drinking enough water to begin with and, to make matters worse,

many of them don't realize that beverages containing alcohol and caffeine rob the body of water."

Levine adds, "The consumption of water and other hydrating beverages is crucial for proper retention and

use of the body's water in complex and intricate biochemical processes." In other words, hydrate,

hydrate, hydrate!

Water Webs

AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, www.awra.org/index.html

AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOCIATION, www.awwa.org

THE BOTTLED WATER WEB, www.bottledwaterweb.com

THE INTERNATIONAL BOTTLED WATER ASSOCIATION (IBWA), www.bottledwater.org

SPIRIT OF THE I-AND FOUNDA[ION, http://greatspirit.earth.com/bio-com.html

WATER TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE, www.waternet.com

Sidebar

Drink Tank-About Water Sources

Sidebar

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Details

Subject Drinking water;

Water treatment;

Beverage industry;

Pollutants

Title Toxins on tap?

Author Turner, Lisa

Publication title Better Nutrition

Volume 63

Issue 12

Pages 48-50

Number of pages 3

Publication year 2001

Did you buy your last bottle of water because of the pristine meadows or frosty glacier depicted on the

label? Those pretty pictures don't always hold water. Chances are, your favorite beverage came from tap

water bottled at a giant plant, not a bubbling stream in the Swiss Alps.

The truth is: Municipal water is used as a source for nearly a quarter of the bottled water sold in the

United States. Granted, it has been purified with reverse osmosis or other filtration treatments, but it

doesn't come right from the source. The label "purified" or "drinking water" usually means you're looking

at a bottle of treated tap water.

There are many growing special categories of water, however. Dasani, manufactured by CocaCola, is

processed municipal water to which minerals have been added. Trinity water is from a pure, geothermal

spring and is approved as a dietary supplement. Penta, produced by BioHydration Research Lab, is

marketed for the molecular originality of its water, what's termed "structured micro-clustered."

The FDA has fairly specific definitions for water in its Standards of Identity: "glacial" water must come

from a glacier; "spring" water from a spring; "artesian" water must flow above the water table; and

"naturally sparkling water" has to come from a natural carbonated spring. The term 11 natural" can be

used for bottled water from springs or wells where the natural chemical composition of the water has not

been altered as a result of the treatment process.

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Publication date Dec 2001

Year 2001

Publisher Active Interest Media

Place of publication Atlanta

Country of publication United States

Publication subject Nutrition And Dietetics

Source type Trade Journals

Language of publication English

Document type Feature

ProQuest document ID 194175874

Document URL http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.rasmussen.edu/doc

view/194175874?accountid=40836

Last updated 2012-06-06

Database ProQuest Central

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