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Is Bottled Water Safe for Public Health?

Introduction

Although people believe that bottled water is safer than tap water, according to the report released by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) bottled companies are actually less regulated than the water that people get from municipal (Nrdc.org, 2008). Similarly, according to the United State Congressional report released currently the food and drug administration has little authority in controlling bottled brands since the municipal water utilities are needed to provide public reports of test results done while bottled-water companies are not (Nrdc.org, 2008). On the other hand, well water which is mostly found in various rural areas is not controlled in the same that water provided by cities and towns is done. What this means is that if one decided to buy bottled water that does not in fact give guaranteed of safe water.

Significance of this issue to public health nutrition

There is an enormous increase in the amount of Americans who drink bottled water simply because of the way that the marketing strategy has been positioned which recommends that, it is better for use than tap water (Path.org, 2008). The bottled-water labels make consumers to think that they are getting fresh water from waterfall as pictured on the bottle, yet the water may be coming from a well and customers dont think or ask themselves such questions. This is even more serious if the source of such water is not well ascertained especially since the bottled water companies do not reveal on the bottles where the well is situated, therefore as customers we have the right to know truthfully where the bottled water we are drinking has come from (Path.org, 2008).

According to Mnn.com (2010) which is a healthy eating site, there are some reasons why people should not drink bottled water such as because it is expensive, generates unnecessary waste and is wasteful. This is because bottled water is just water but is marketed in such a way that makes it appear as healthy because it is positioned as bottles water is healthy (Mnn.com, 2010). On average, globally bottled water sales revenues amount to as much as $100 billion each year with the market growing at the surprising yearly rate of 7%; this means that bottled water is now big business which makes it all the more likely to be less healthy (Mnn.com, 2010). In terms of sustainability, bottled water is not feasible, this is because it is wasteful, costly, and most often does not meet public health standards.

Bottled water is also not a high-quality product as it has no nutritional benefits different that are from tap water, for instance Pepsis Aquafina and Coca-colas Dasani bottled water which are sold in small amounts which can be bought from vending machines beside soft drinks at the same price (Mnn.com, 2010). These two brands are basically filtered tap water that are bottled close to their distribution points and that is why there is no scarcity of companies that want to get in this business because in terms of price versus production the costs are minimal (Mnn.com, 2009).

This is not to mention that bottled water means more waste produced; the bottled water companies for instance produces more than 1 million tons of plastic waste every year making plastic waste one of the most generated wastes in the world (Mnn.com, 2009).

Bottled water also reduces the earnings obtained by the government since much money is diverted to private owned bottled companies for no good reasons; in fact people drink bottled water simply because they dislike the taste of their local tap water or because they question its safety. Many people just take bottled water without knowing the risk they are exposing their bodies, for instance it is argued that bottle water contains residue wastes because most often the plastic bottles are recycled from previous plastics and thus poses health hazards.

Opposing points

Bottled water is deemed by several stakeholders to be unsafe for consumption; this is primarily due to chemical compounds contained in the bottled water such as trihalometrane and phthalates (known to upset testosterone and some other hormones) (Mnn.com, 2010). It is approximated that 25% or more of bottled water is really just tap water in a bottle, sometimes further treated, sometimes not (Webmd.com, 2011). Water bottles may have an effect on the environment if the plastics are not recycled and are burned, such as greenhouse gasses and other air contamination (Mnn.com, 2010).

Stakeholders

Environmental Working Group and National Resources Defence Council (NRDC) are some of the stakeholders who have taken opposing point of views relating the safety of the bottled water (Webmd.com, 2011).

Scientific merits of opposing viewpoints

Environmental Working Group for instanec carried out a study on 170 contaminants by analysing ten superior brands of the bottled water and found varying assortment of thirty eight contaminants, together with fertilizer, industrial chemicals and bacteria at stages comparable to those endorsed for tap water (Webmd.com, 2011). From the samples collected from San Francisco two of them, included trihalometrane a chemical compound, in stages that even surpassed the quantity authorized in California (Webmd.com, 2011).

The National Resources Defence Council (NRDC) (2008) on the other hand carried out a review for duration of four years on the bottled water sector and safety principles that are used to regulate it; this included comparison of national-wide tap water regulations with state bottled water policies plus independent examination of at least 1000 water bottles (Webmd.com, 2011). The council concluded that there is no assurance that just because water comes out of a bottle it is any cleaner or safer than water from the tap (Webmd.com, 2011).

Many bottles analyzed by NRDC (2008) however demonstrated that they are free from contaminants and are of high quality; But the safety of a number of other brands was in doubt and such products might cause health risk, mostly to individuals with destabilised immune systems for example a number of infants, frail elderly, HIV/AIDs patients, cancer and transplant patients (Webmd.com, 2011). Approximately 22% of brands analysed contained, no less than one sample, contaminants from chemicals at levels that were beyond what was recommended by government regulatory bodies; if taken for a long duration of time, these contaminants may cause health problems especially cancer (Webmd.com, 2011).

Indeed, current studies conclude that there may be reasons for alarm and that this issue must be researched more comprehensively; this especially because some of the studies had indicated that chemicals such as phthalates, known to upset testosterone and some other hormones may eventually percolate into the bottled water (Webmd.com, 2011). The problem is that there are standards restricting phthalates in the tap water but no legal restrictions for phthalates in the bottled water (Webmd.com, 2011).

Other reason which explain position taken by stakeholders

Environmental effect

In 2006, approximately 2,000 million half-a-litre water bottles were transported to United States, building more than one thousand tonnes of greenhouse gasses and making up other sources of air contamination. An estimation of 3,800 tonnes of greenhouse gasses are released from bottled water transported from Europe to New US (Mnn.com, 2010). In California, approximately eighteen million gallons of water in bottles were transported from Fiji resulting to around 2,500 tonnes of greenhouse gasses in 2006 (Webmd.com, 2011). At the same time most of the bottles coming from far-away places ends up in homes or in landfill. Many bottled water complement biodegradable bottles (PET plastic bottles), although only around 13% of bottles used finally get recycled (Mnn.com, 2010). In conclusion, there is no conclusive evidence that indicates bottled water is safe than tap water.

References

Cnn.com. (2009). Is bottled water safe? Web.

Mnn.com. (2010). Reasons not to drink bottled water. Web.

Nrdc.org. (2008). Bottled Water. Web.

Path.org. (2008). Activities and Stakeholders in the Global Water Sector: A Preliminary Analysis. Wev.

Webmd.com. (2011). Bottled Water. Web.

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