So Opinionated: Are We Killing Ourselves With Water?

It's funny how the mind works.

I've always thought that I prefer bottled water to tap water, and prefer the water that pours from the door of my refrigerator to bottled water.

An interesting and somewhat disturbing fact has come to light, which may eventually
see bottled water companies worried about huge downturns in sales. That is, if the public take heed of the warning found in Science News a few days ago.

The warning, coming from researchers in Frankfurt, Germany, is that both glass and plastic bottled water may contain hormones which effectively mimic estrogen.

The ingredient is polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which is included in the process to create plastic bottles. This was discovered by researchers at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt.

Not only is this a health care danger for all of us, but not buying these products, certainly doesn't mean that we're safe from the issue.

Bottled water comes from various sources. At least 25 percent of bottled water is actually bottled tap water. "Purified water" probably means tap water that has been filtered in some fashion. Many bottles labeled spring water come from underground wells or aquifers that may be in close proximity to industrial sites.

A call to your bottled water provider will tell you where the water comes from and may give you reassurance. It will not tell you what is in your water no matter what their testing reports say.

Our vision of bottled water is crystal pure mountain snows and glaciers delivered in their pristine state for your pleasure and delectation. The bottled water industry encourages this utopian vision, even as they defend lawsuits about misrepresentation of the sources of "spring" water.

As if the population needs anything more to worry about, here are a few more 'fun facts' about our plastic water bottles.

Plastic water bottles:

outgas estrogen mimics, xenoestrogens, into the water they hold, which upsets our hormonal balance

pack landfills where they outgas, upsetting hormonal balances of many creatures

boost cost of water higher than gasoline and 240 to 10,000 times higher than tap water

are the fastest growing section of the beverage market

deplete our oil reserves — we could carry our own more durable, non-toxic container for water.

heat up Big Mama through plastic materials, manufacture and easy disposal.

How many brands of bottled water do you think are currently processed in the world?

100? 300? No, the answer is 700 - which translates into a $22 billion a year industry.

How did this mass hypnosis take place that would have us believe bottled water is best over tap water? We have had warnings in the past, but it is clearly apparent that we simply do not listen.

Back in October of 2008, the Environmental Working Group conducted a Bottle Water Quality Investigation of 10 Major Brands and 38 Pollutants.

The results?

The bottled water industry promotes an image of purity, but comprehensive testing by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) reveals a surprising array of chemical contaminants in every bottled water brand analyzed, including toxic byproducts of chlorination in Walmart’s Sam’s Choice and Giant Supermarket's Acadia brands, at levels no different than routinely found in tap water.

Several Sam's Choice samples purchased in California exceeded legal limits for bottled water contaminants in that state. Cancer-causing contaminants in bottled water purchased in 5 states (North Carolina, California, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland) and the District of Columbia substantially exceeded the voluntary standards established by the bottled water industry.

So naturally, some people may think, 'ok, so I'll only drink tap water from now on.'

However, tap water comes to our homes via an identified dangerous method, previously unsuspected.

The type of plumbing in your own home.

Heavens, what next?

Polyvinyl chloride tubing, for instance, is widely used by industry. So if mineral water were pumped through PVC piping it could pick up bisphenol-A, organotin- and phthalates — “because [PVC] is a source of all those,” notes Shanna Swan, an environmental epidemiologist at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.- And, she adds, all of these materials that have been found in PVC have an estrogenic alter ego.

With all this information, I'm still just a little confused as to where that leaves the water from my refrigerator, which is the source of my preferred drinking water.

Martin Wagner and Jörg Oehlmann washed out used water bottles made from either PET or glass and then cultured young mud snails in them. The species that they used (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) is particularly sensitive to estrogen, revving up its production of embryos when exposed to elevated quantities of the hormone.
And that’s what was seen in those reared in the PET containers. Compared to snails reared in glass bottles, PET-housed ones produced more young — up to twice as many embryos.

There are some people who think distilling their water might be the healthiest way to drink water in order to circumvent these issues - but this also comes with its own dangers.

The distillation method is not guaranteed to remove all pollutants and chemicals and can in fact, leach necessary minerals from your body, causing dangerous deficiencies. This in itself has the ability to cause serious chronic disease.

If you don't think this is a serious enough problem, I'll tell you about something that happened to me only a couple of years ago: my mother had died and I was so distraught that I barely lifted my head from the 'porcelain god' for three days.

Laying on the sofa on that third night, I noticed my feet began cramping, then about an hour later, my hands contorted into something that can only be described as alien and I could not use them.

I attempted to call my son who was sleeping, but my face had also dropped, the same way as a severe stroke patient. I lay there all night, unable to do or say anything.

I was literally terrified.

When my son awoke and saw what I looked like, he immediately called an ambulance. Once in hospital and several blood tests later, the culprit had been a lack of potassium. It had completely leached out of my body and into the 'porcelain god.'

As if that weren't all, I discovered that potassium is vitally necessary for one's heart and that if I had not gone to hospital, I was a clear candidate for a heart attack.

Scary huh? While my personal story has nothing to do with water, it does tell you what can happen when certain minerals are leached out of your water.

There is a plethora of information on the internet on compromised waters, including tap water and bottled water in both plastic and glass bottles. I strongly urge people to become au fait with these dangerous issues, before making a choice as to where their own drinking water originates.

Recommended Reading:

Get Plastic Out of Your Life
by Paul Goettlich

Alternatives to Plastic
by Paul Goettlich

Coping With Toxins
2007 Bioenergy Balancing Center

Drinking Water - Drinking Water Choices
by Randall Neustaedter OMD
Sources:

Environmental Working Group
FDA Proposes Improved Testing of Bottled Water
Injury Board, Chrissie Cole

Science News
Bottled Water May Contain 'Hormones': Plastics
by Janet Raloff

Bottled Water Contains Disinfection Byproducts, Fertilizer Residue and Pain Medication
by Olga Naidenko PhD, Senior Scientist;
Nneka Leiba, MPH, Researcher;
Renee Sharp, MS, Senior Scientist;
Jane Houlihan, MSCE, Vice President for Research

Plastic Water Bottles a Health Threat
Response to Editorial Paul Goettlich/Post Tribune (Indiana) 2jun01

Environmental Working Group

Bottled Water Quality Investigation: 10 Major Brands, 38 Pollutants
by Olga Naidenko, PhD, Senior Scientist;
Nneka Leiba, MPH, Researcher;
Renee Sharp, MS, Senior Scientist;
Jane Houlihan, MSCE, Vice President for Research

WiseGEEK
What is Estrogen?

Image Sources

Bottled Water Quality Investigation: 10 Major Brands, 38 Pollutants

Bottled Water Contains Disinfection, Byproducts, Fertilizer Residue and Pain Medication

Figure 1. Pollutants in Walmart and Giant Bottled Water Exceed Industry and California Standards

Figure 2. Walmart and Giant Are Bottling Tap Water