A 2023 journal discusses how “dirty” your bottled water truly is

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412022006286

What makes this an interesting paper is that they are not in bed with the government, and go as far as to say that their findings may not necessarily align with the beliefs of the governmental agencies. Hmmmmmm do I smell credibility here? 😎

We have been sold the idea that bottled water is healthier than tap water. I would be lying if I said I didn’t believe that to be true. Bottled water is supposedly purer, better filtered, “spring water” versus whatever the local municipalities do to treat our local tap water. This article though…….might change a few minds.

Bottled water (BW) from 30 total domestic US (23) and imported (7) sources, including purified tapwater (7) and spring water (23). The samples were tested for organic, inorganic, and microbial contaminants.

The results were surprising. 45 organic contaminants were found as were 48 inorganic contaminants. Among the samples, 67% had arsenic, 17% had lead, and 57% had uranium in them. Full disclosure, you will find those in tap water as well, which is the WHOLE PURPOSE for drinking bottled water. It was SUPPOSED to be cleaner. Guess not.

This study spells out that “Improved understandings of human exposures based on more environmentally realistic and directly comparable point-of-use exposure characterizations, like this BW study, are essential to public health because drinking water is a biological necessity and, consequently, a high-vulnerability vector for human contaminant exposures.”. Read that again. Water is essential to life. Regardless of where we source our drinking water. IT IS A HIGH VULNERABILITY VECTOR FOR HUMAN CONTAMINANT EXPOSURES. Yes. Yes it is.

Arsenic was not detected in any purified bottled water (domestic) but was frequently detected (≥0.1 µg L^–1) in domestic and imported spring-sourced bottled water (87 %), at concentrations up to greater than 7 µg L^-1 in two domestic samples. Drinking-water As exposure is associated with various cancers, organ–system toxicity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and mortality. Growing concerns for adverse health effects of drinking-water Arsenic concentrations less than the 10 µg L^–1 EPA MCL have prompted more strict public-supply MCL (e.g., 5 µg L^–1 in New Hampshire and New Jersey) in some US states.

Uranium was frequently (74 %) detected (≥0.1 µg L^–1) in domestic and imported spring–sourced BW, at concentrations up to 6.2 µg L^-1(imported) but was not detected in any purified bottled water. Drinking-water Uranium is associated with human nephrotoxicity and osteotoxicity, DNA-repair inhibition in human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells, and estrogen-receptor effects in mice. Notably, Arsenic and Uranium co-occurred in about 70 % (16) of spring–sourced BW samples in this study.

Lead was detected (≥0.1 µg L^–1) in 5 of the 30 BW brands (17 %) at concentrations up to 1.1 µg L^–1 and with comparable frequency in purified–TW and spring–sourced BW (14 % and 17 %, respectively). Public–health concerns for elevated drinking-water Lead–exposures are focused primarily on neurocognitive impairment in infants and children with the American Academy of Pediatrics recommending that drinking-water Pb not exceed 1 µg L^–1. Drinking-water Lead is attributed primarily to premise–plumbing and distribution–system infrastructures that predate the 1986 SDWA Amendments.

Nitrate was routinely detected in BW samples in this study at concentrations generally consistent with previous BW comparison studies in the US. Concentrations of NO₃-N greater than 1 mg L^-1 (including one at 8.1 mg L^-1) were observed in 22 % (5/23) of spring–sourced BW samples in this study but not in any purified–TW BW. Nitrate concentrations recently have been associated with several adverse outcomes including cancers, thyroid disease, and neural tube defects.

Fluoride concentrations in all BW samples were below the 0.7 mg L^–1 US Public Health Service drinking-water optimum to prevent childhood dental caries. Well this was good news at least! Fluoride is no bueno.

Viable bacteria were detected in 97 % (29/30) of BW samples (6/7 purified-TW, 23/23 spring–sourced) and at concentrations greater than 100 HPC CFU 100 mL⁻¹ in 17 % of samples, all spring-sourced. Bacteria occur naturally in the environment, are commonly detected in drinking water, and are not intrinsic health concerns but are useful indicators of source-water quality, system maintenance, disinfection efficacy, and post-treatment regrowth in the distribution “pipeline” prior to consumption.

I hope this article plus the previous posts this week have been helpful in understanding how bottled water is really not as safe as we are led to believe. This article does not get into the dangers of microplastics leeching into water, but that is a legit concern. I believe all of us need to use great caution with where we source our water for consumption.