Medical Daily: Bottled Water May Be Less Safe Than Tap Water

[Quixote1818]

This study is a year old but I don't remember ever seeing it posted at DU.

By Christine Hsu | Jan 2, 2013 10:55 AM EDT


Bottled water costs 1,000 times more than tap water and is generally considered safer than tap water. However, new research suggests the opposite after scientists found that pricey bottled water is subject to far less stringent testing than tap water.

Researchers found that companies that make bottled water are only required to do monthly testing at source and that bottled water is significantly more likely to be contaminated or become a source of infection, according to a new study.

Scientists explain that tap water contains trace amounts of disinfecting chlorine that can stop the spread of harmful bacterial infections.

More


http://www.medicaldaily.com/bottled-water-may-be-less-safe-tap-water-244111

[demosincebirth]

1. I've been saying that for years. Yet, we spend billiions on bottle water because of flashy

advertisements

[drm604]

2. Not to mention the environmental issues

and the unnecessary strain on peoples budgets created by buying bottled water.

I've been dismayed for years at the rows and rows of bottled water I see in supermarkets. Apparently it's all some people drink. It's completely senseless. It's a triumph of marketing over common sense.

[Big Blue Marble]

9. What about the rows and rows of bottled soda pop and juice?

Is that equally as senseless? it certainly is a marketing success when people
will buy colored. flavored waters? Add a few pennies worth of corn syrup and
and caramel color and watch the profit margin rise.

[drm604]

13. Of course.

But to be fair, there is some added value (if you consider sugar and artificial flavoring to be value) so it's not quite as senseless. You can't get Coca Cola or Root Beer from your kitchen faucet.

[Big Blue Marble]

14. Added value is truly in the eye of the beholder.

Never the less, the impact on the environment is the same.
lots of plastic on land and sea. The beverage industry is
truly one of smoke and mirrors, regardless of what is in
the bottle.

[etherealtruth]

4. I am hoping you did not intend for your post to be as rude as it is

Your response is very curious .... the OP addresses a serious problem in the US ... your response is to lash out in a very questionable way.

Here are some overall stats on bottled water use in the US

http://www.statisticbrain.com/bottled-water-statistics/

[SheilaT]

5. I am truly amazed when I'm at a grocery store and I see that almost every single

person has bottled water or some kind of flavored water (soda, tea, whatever) in their shopping cart.

It's not very hard or timeconsuming to make your own tea. And maybe all the chemicals in all those soft drinks aren't really very good for you. Because the vast majority of people in this country consume those things, it might be very difficult to figure out how they impact health, but I'm more and more convinced that over the long term they are truly bad.

I pretty much gave them up about fifteen years ago. I will rarely, but occasionally, have a soda, but almost always drink just water with a meal.

[Avalux]

6. Good for you!

I drink tap water, no soda or other sugary things and make my own tea. On a usual day, I have black coffee in the morning, water, herbal tea in the afternoon, water.

One of the reasons I'm a normal weight and healthy. A few years ago, I looked at an Aquafina label and saw that the source is the Houston water supply. Really?? So much money being made on bottled WATER, such a scam.

[SheilaT]

8. And I think the thing with waters that supposedly

have some sort of special or curative powers -- I'm actually pretty vague on this since I don't pay attention to these things -- are a double rip off

[cui bono]

7. ...

[Curmudgeoness]

10. I remember when this came out,

and a year later, bottled water is still so popular. I never did understand it.

I drink tap water, I have my whole life, and I am not concerned. In fact, I would bet that the tap water is safer today than it was when I was a kid, and there is no going back and changing the past. The only time that I will have bottled water is when I am at a festival or some place where there is no other source of water. I even fill reusable bottled at home for hiking or other outdoor activities.

[Stuart G]

11. k & r thanks for posting..... no text..

[flamingdem]

12. This is unconvincing, I'd like to know about whether it contains arsenic

or other elements that may occur naturally but aren't great for us. or elements from the plastic.

The idea that it may be contaminated isn't convincing enough