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Bottled Water Is Cause For Concern, Environmental Advocates Claim

WESTPORT, Mar 31 (Reuters Health) - Bottled water sold in the US may not live up to its advertised reputation for safety and purity, according to a report released yesterday by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a New York-based environmental advocacy group.

Eric Olson, who works on water safety issues for the NRDC and is principle author of the report, told Reuters Health, "We concluded that although a lot of consumers assumed that bottled water was a lot cleaner, safer, and better regulated than tap water, that is, in fact, not the case."

"While most bottled water [we tested] was of fairly high quality, about one-third of brands tested violated either strict enforceable state standards or microbial impurity guidelines," Mr. Olson explained.

After testing more than 100 brands of bottled water, the NRDC found that "...some bottled water contained bacterial contaminants, and several brands of bottled water contain synthetic organic chemicals...or inorganic contaminants...in at least some bottles."

In the report, the NRDC described the "serious deficiencies" of regulations relating to bottled water products."FDA's rules...exempt many forms of what most off us would consider 'bottled water' from all of its specific water-testing and contamination standards," the report reads. "Even what FDA defines to be 'bottled water' is exempt from many of the standards and testing requirements that apply to tap water."

The NRDC cites an example of the "gaping hole" to be found in the current regulatory scheme."[A] big city has to test its tap water 100 times or more each month for coliform bacteria...yet bottled water (even at an enormous bottling plant) must be tested for coliform bacteria only once a week under FDA rules."

Regarding other contaminants, "FDA currently has no enforceable standard or treatment requirement for...acrylamide, asbestos, and epichlorohydrin," according to the NRDC, while tap water content of these substances is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The NRDC acknowledges that the bottled water industry, led by the International Bottled Water Association, "...has sometimes been a progressive force in seeking to improve certain FDA controls."But the Association has "...sometimes fought vigorously against tough FDA rules, such as possible controls on Pseudomonas aeruginosa...rules for heterotrophic bacteria, and right-to-know requirements for bottled water," according to the report.

In a statement, the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) responds "...that the NRDC is trying to scare consumers."The group contends that bottled water is "one of the most highly regulated products under FDA regulatory authority."

"For the past 37 years...there have been no confirmed reports in the US of illness or diseases linked to bottled water," the IBWA statement points out.Their statement goes on to explain that "...[t]he EPA, which regulates tap water, lacks a system to remove products from the market and relies on the less effective consumer notification system."

According to the IBWA, consumers can obtain "...complete testing information [from] virtually all IBWA members." Some 85% of bottled water manufacturers, distributors and suppliers belong to the trade association.

Eric Olson told Reuters Health that the NRDC "...is not trying to scare consumers.Our bottom line message is that we'd like to see tap water fixed so people don't have to feel they are compelled to turn to bottled water to protect the health of their families."