Bottled Water? Are you better off with tap water?

You know how when you go to Mexico, they tell you not to drink the water and only drink bottled water?  Otherwise you are threatened with risk of getting the dreaded "Montezuma's revenge?"  Well, it seems here in the States you might just be a little better off drinking tap water rather than drinking some of the junk found in bottled waters from the likes of Walmart, Sam's Club and Giants.  A recent study published by the Environmental Working Group has found that out of 10 different brands of bottled water purchased in 9 different states, scientists found that there were 38 different chemicals found in the water, an average of 8 chemicals per brand of water.  Moreover, 2 major brands (Sam's Choice and Acadia brands of bottled water) EXCEEDED California's law for safe drinking water levels.  Four brands contained bacteria found in the water. 

Bottled water costs about 1900 (that is 19 HUNDRED) times that of tap water yet there is less standardization set for bottled water than for tap water safety.  Are we as consumers falling for complacency of a sexy label and bottle and forgetting to ask the obvious questions.  Why am I buying this?Are all bottled waters not created equal?  Evident ally, not.  If you buy Walmart's Sam's choice water or Giant's Acadia brand of bottled water you could save yourself a lot of money and just fill up your water bottle with tap water.  Walmart's water was found to contain bromodichloromethane known to cause cancer and required in the State of California to carry a cancer hazard label.  

Some other exciting chemicals found in the bottled water included chloroform (a generally accepted cancer causing agent), fluoride, fertilizers (nitrates and ammonia), pharmaceutical drugs (like Tylenol, pain meds and caffeine), 9 synthetic chemicals were found like toluene and acetaldehyde which are used in plastic production, bacteria (indicating possibly unsanitary bottling conditions), arsenic, radioactive pollutants and boron.  Many of these chemicals are also found in municipal water sources so know where your choice of bottled waters originates.  

Many underground spring waters are now contaminated with pollutants so it is always best to have the water filtered in a number of ways like reverse osmosis or distillation.  Ultraviolet treatment of the water also helps with bacterial contamination.  I really don't care if my bottled water originally comes from tap water but it needs to have been highly filtered and then bottled without all the chemicals not regulated yet found in tap water.  Ultimately, my choice for bottled water comes from a non-municipal source then is filtered a number of ways then bottled, which then allows for optimal purity.  

I've avoided going back to Mexico since my initial introduction to Montezuma and his revenge on an innocent college freshman.  But are we setting ourselves up by thinking that we are doing something good for our bodies like drinking good clean (and sometimes expensive) bottled waters without having a clear knowledge of the water's source and more importantly the filtration of the water after it is taken from the source.  Know what is in your drinking water, ultimately I don't think you would be better with tap water but you should educate yourself in your drinking water choices.

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[nyscof]

Physicians' Group Opposes Fluoride in Tape Water

New York - October 2008 –
“Fluoridation of drinking water is scientifically untenable, and should not be part of a public health initiative or program,” says the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) in a new published statement.

CAPE is Canada’s leading voice on environmental health issues.

Against a backdrop of intense opposition to the fluoridation of public drinking water in several communities in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, CAPE asserts:

A) fluoridation is unlikely to be the cause of the cavity decline in Europe and North America,

B) the potential for fluoride’s adverse effects is real, and

C) current evidence points in the direction of caution.

Paul Connett, PhD, Executive Director, Fluoride Action Network says, “CAPE joins a growing list of environmental health experts who have called for an end to the fluoridation of public drinking water.

They include:

• Vyvyan Howard, MD, PhD, President, International Society of Doctors for the Environment
• Ken Cook and Richard Wiles, Environmental Working Group
• Lois Gibbs, Center for Health, Environment, and Justice
• Joseph Mercola, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
• Theo Colborn, PhD, co-author, “Our Stolen Future”
• Sam Epstein, MD, Chairman, Cancer Prevention Coalition
• The current and six past Presidents of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology
• Board of Directors (2007), American Academy of Environmental Medicine
• FIVE Goldman Prize winners - given for excellence in protecting the environment

These are among over 1800 professionals who have signed a statement calling for an end to fluoridation worldwide see http://www.FluorideAlert.org/professionals.statement.html

According to Connett, “Citizens facing well-financed efforts to fluoridate their communities need to know that US governmental agencies (particularly the CDC) are ignoring the voluminous body of scientific evidence on the adverse effects of fluoride. The National Research Council of the National Academies published a landmark report on these effects in 2006. More than 2 years after its release, CDC and fluoridation promoting agencies in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand and the UK act as if this report was never published. We urge communities to reject fluoridation proposals until promoters can provide a rational scientific response to fluoride’s dangers, which includes 23 peer-reviewed and published studies indicating that fluoride can lower children’s IQ. Fluoridation exposes infants to 250 times the level of fluoride in human breast milk. That is reckless.”

CAPE’s statement is online at http://fluoridealert.org/cape.html

Take Action to Stop Fluoridation here: http://congress.FluorideAction.Net

SOURCE: Fluoride Action Network
http://www.FluorideAction.Net

[MBT Shoes]

It's so nice to have you do all of the research for us. It makes our decision making so much easier!! Thanks.