Health |

How safe is bottled water?

More than half of Americans drink bottled water, and one-third drink it on a regular basis, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

This trend isn’t expected to get bottled up anytime soon. Over the past decade, sales of bottled water tripled to about $4 billion annually, fueled by advertisements of waterfalls, glaciers and glistening forests — despite regular recalls of bottled water for E. coli and other concerns.

The most recent scare took place in late June, and it involved the recall of spring water produced at two Pennsylvania Niagara Bottling plants after evidence of E. coli bacteria was discovered at the spring source.

So just how safe is bottled water?

A report by the NRDC about 15 years ago — the latest large-scale study performed — tested more than 1,000 bottles from 103 brands of water by three independent labs. They found that about one-third of the bottles contained significant contamination with levels of chemical or bacterial contaminants exceeding those allowed under a state or industry standard or guideline in at least one test.

“The overall point was that people shouldn’t assume that bottled water is any more safe or more clean or more pure than regular tap water,” said Mae Wu, senior attorney in the health program at NRDC.

NRDC did the study in 1999, and in 2013, the Food and Drug Administration agreed to more stringently regulate bottled water safety. It is now testing and banning water sources contaminated with E. coli, and it is regulating the level of di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP.

Water is regulated by the FDA and by the Environmental Protection Agency. The FDA regulates the bottled water, and the EPA regulates tap water and the production, distribution and quality of drinking water — including source water protection, operation of drinking water systems, contaminant levels and reporting requirements.

In fact, bottled water regulations are numerous — and the companies are more strongly regulated than tap water is, said Stephen Edward, a board certified clinical and public health microbiologist, who regularly drinks bottled water.

“If you pick up a bottle of water, it’s highly likely that you’re going to see a telephone number on it,” Edward said. “You can call the company and they’ll tell you exactly what’s in it.”

They may not share so blatantly, however.

A 2010 report by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, found that about a fifth of 175 bottled water labels and websites that they analyzed didn’t list the source of the water, 32 percent didn’t list their treatment methods and purity testing and 87 percent didn’t publish testing results from water quality reports.

These included big brands such as Aquafina and Crystal Geyser, though the government doesn’t require water bottles to disclose any of this — except in California.

Bottlers in most states must only include the name of the product, type of water, name and address of the manufacturer, packer or distributor and the net content.

Bottled water is much more transparent than tap water, however, because the responsibility of the EPA ends at the curb for the tap water, Edward said.

“You might have an old pipe,” he said.

Even if the bottled water is old, however, it won’t be a problem — as long as it stays sealed.

The current plastic bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, and they’re very stable — as opposed the bottles used years ago, which were memorable for their ability to leach chemicals.

“Ink from the label could go through the plastic, but it doesn’t happen anymore,” Edward said.

Water bottles produced today are so stable that the FDA considers them to have an indefinite safety shelf life, and doesn’t require an expiration date for them. But the agency says long-term storage of the water may result in an off-odor and taste, and bottlers may voluntarily put expiration dates on the bottles.

Consumers may notice a difference in the taste from brand to brand.

While water is just water, there is a mild difference in taste between the various brands because they have differing amounts of calcium, magnesium and other minerals within them, Edward said.

They also come from different sources, which make them have differing flavors, said Chris Hogan, spokesman for the International Bottled Water Association, based in Virginia.

“Spring waters often taste different from each other based on the source location, mineral content and other geological factors,” Edward said. “The taste of purified bottled water products can be unique as well, depending on the minerals in the water.”

The brands that earned top marks on transparency from the EWG in a 2011 score card were Gerber Pure Purified Water, Nestle Pure Life Purified Water and Penta Ultra-Purified Water — but the water quality reports for those had lab tests dating back to 2008 when the EWG last checked on them. The brand that scored worst on transparency was Whole Foods’ Italian Still Mineral Water because it didn’t provide consumers with any of the basic facts about its water on the label or on its company website.

Danielle Braff is a freelance reporter.

Demystifying bottled water

The FDA established standards that define the types of water.

Artesian: Water from a well tapping a confined aquifer (layers of porous rock, sand and earth containing water) where the water level stands above the top of the aquifer.

Mineral water: Water containing more than 250 parts per million total dissolved solids originating from a protected underground water source. It must have constant levels and relative proportions of minerals and trace elements at the source. No minerals may be added to the water.

Purified water: Produced by distillation, deionization, reverse osmosis or other process that meets the definition.

Sparkling: Water that contains that same amount of carbon dioxide that it had at emergence from the source after treatment and possible replacement of carbon dioxide.

Spring water: Water that may be collected at the spring or through a borehole. It’s any water that comes to the surface.