Bottled water is one of the biggest industries in the business thus far. When it was introduced in the 90’s it is said to have taken on a life of its own. It has in turn developed into a multi-billion dollar business with profit margins for the distributing companies that reach as high as 500%. Americans alone throw away 38 billion plastic bottles a year into the trash and that financial number exceeds one billion dollars worth of plastic. According to WebMd a case is made saying that not all bottled water is bad. In this self regulated industry they practically abides by their own sets of rules and this has resulted in hazardous beverages for the public. The bottled water industry and their image of purity have people with absolute doubt that there can be anything-wrong wit it. It is said that the plastic itself has numerous toxic chemicals, which eventually ends up contaminating the water; meanwhile there are some companies who have completely contaminated water without including the bottles poisons.
Environmental Working Group (EWG) concluded that after most of the companies extract the water from its source it goes through minimal process and is never really completely purified. The law actually states that if municipal water is to be used anywhere it clearly has to be stated “unless” there are steps taken to purify the water.
There is no real definitive to how much does it have to be purified to promote the water as pure. I guess it would be safe to say that further purification measures other than than ones that are required by the companies to take aren’t done to simply maximize profits. If you can get around the law by taken minimal steps in and save money then you can clearly see why there are situations like this at hand from the beginning.
The most common plastic used in the manufacturing of bottles of water is known as polyethylene terephthalate, or PET a substance which is said to use up to 17 kilograms of water just to produce one PET according to Dr Zoltan P. Rona. According to him more water goes into the actual manufacturing of PET than actual water does. This has become a silent killer as well as a very big problem. It is said that theses chemicals can result in anything from cancer to brain problems as well as “endocrine disrupting chemicals” which range from Parabens to Phenols. The plastic is very dangerous in these water bottles and to say the least bit it turns the sort of good water to very bad and possibly hazardous in some cases. Some of the harmful chemicals are said to "block the production of testosterone and mimic the action of estrogen in mans body” Hmm!! Ever wonder where all of these feminine males suddenly emerge from? I do.
There have been numerous amounts of testing when it comes to the bottled water industry. Many of these test has concluded some alarming results, which may not sit well with those dedicated to drinking their daily bottle each day. In many of the study’s it was stated that in the end one might want to consider tap water instead of bottled water. EWG took ten of the best selling bottled water brands to be put in their study they found 38 different pollutants, which ranged from bacteria to fertilizer. The levels of the chemicals in most of the water that was measured came out to be the same amount or in some cases more than tap water. Ten of those most widely used brands throughout America contained an average of eight contaminants per bottle based on Salynn Boyles from Webmd health news. She also talked in detail about five of those tested waters contained fluoride six contained nitrate (fertilizer ingredient), and two contained the drug acetaminophen or Tylenol as most may call it.
The Acadia water brand out of California had chemical levels, which far exceeded the states safety standards. Practically all of the Executives of the companies state that they take the most precautionary measures and assure that there product is safe. They are legally bound to poison the public. Federal law states that water quality should always be made to the public, however when it comes to the bottled water industry those same rules apply in no way shape or form. The self-regulation of this business may be the primary reason that this kind of research is being done in the first place.
Another thing that the industry seems to thrive on is the fact that they use false advertisements to their advantage. Many of them have pictures and sayings that give a false reality of where the water comes from only to find that it is simply borderline tap water. This is a bad idea. Though tap water is very harmful it is said that even water that is fully purified should not be consumed on a regular basis. It is said that purified water is should be used to cleanse your body of toxins consumed and even though this is a great thing it is said it should never be consumed regularly.
The bottled water industry is said to be one that can be argued from both sides especially that of the safety and health standpoints. There is one thing that is consistently being uttered by those in charge in the water business is that none of these actual effects have been proven and it will take long-term studies for anyone to jump to conclusive arguments the proof shall remain in the nature of the practices and what's seen around us everyday.
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