Is Bottled Water A Sensible Choice For Your Family’s Drinking Water?
By Catherine Guerra
the FDA does not require certified testing of chemicals, heavy metals, radio-actives, cryptosporidium, giardia, or E. coli
bottled water studies show 1/5 of bottled waters contained industrial chemicals, or chemicals used in manufacturing plastics
pregnant woman, babies, children, the elderly, people on chemotherapy, people with HIV & AIDS are more vulnerable
most water bottles are made with polyethylene terephthalate, known as PET, a plastic derived from crude oil
bottled water studies showed that 1/4 of waters tested, violated CA limits for arsenic & organic chemicals
toxins from plastics can leach into your bottled water - water can legally be stored in plastic for 2 years
phthalates (plastics) are not legally regulated in bottled water because of intense industry pressure
water pollution is rampant, and ground water contaminants end up in the bottled water we drink
Quality of Bottled Water:
all bottled water produced & sold within the same state is exempt from FDA regulation
both regulation & enforcement of bottled water is weaker than that of tap water
bottled water can contain both arsenic & ammonia, from chloramine.
43 states have one or fewer staff dedicated to bottled water regulations
the popularity of bottled water is the result of huge marketing efforts
over 40% of bottled water sold in the U.S. is filtered tap water
the bottled water market is controlled by soft-drink companies:
Aquafina & Dasani, the top-selling brands, are produced by Pepsi & Coke. Aquafina is municipal water from Kansas,
while Dasani is taken from the taps of Queens, New York.
Pepsi Owns: Aquafina, San Pellegrino
Coca Cola Owns: Alhambra, Dasani, Evian, Sparkletts,
Nestle’s Owns: Arrowhead, Calistoga, Poland Spring, Perrier, Ice Mountain, Vittel, Deer Park
Cost of Bottled Water:
bottled water costs more than gasoline in the US - up to $10/gallon
for the price of one bottle of Evian, a person can use 1,000 gallons of tap water in the home.
home/office delivered water costs $1.70 gallon; store-bought costs 85/gallon
Bottled water averages $2.84/gallon
In-Convenience of Bottled Water:
Convenience is having unlimited, contaminant-free drinking water - on-demand, at all times, in your kitchen - at your fingertips
bottled water is incredibly inconvenient & expensive as a main source of cooking/drinking water
its easy to run out of water & find your family without water for the evening
it’s heavy to carry & takes up a lot of storage space
too expensive to cook & wash your produce with
Environmental Issues:
86% of plastic bottles are thrown away
30 million bottles/day get put into landfills
buried water bottles can take 1,000 years to biodegrade.
each plastic bottle requires 5x its volume in water to manufacture
47 million gallons of oil are used each year to produce plastic bottles
bottling companies run wells 24/7, pumping as much as 500 gall/min
transportation of water involves burning massive quantities of fossil fuels
it takes 47 million gallons of oil to produce plastic water bottles every year
Children/Babies:
water contaminants contribute greatly to the incidence of birth defects & developmental disorders.
the World Health Organization says children are especially vulnerable to environmental toxins, such as tap water contaminants.
3 million children under the age of 5 die each year from environmental hazards
children’s immune systems & detoxification mechanisms are not fully developed, so they are especially vulnerable to chemical, physical, & biological hazards
40% of the global burden of disease due to environmental risk factors, fall on children under 5, even though they are only 10% of the population
I hope that I have been able to provide you with some eye opening information about the environmental & health impacts of bottled water. The quality of your drinking water is essential to good health. For more information, please contact the author.
About The Author:
Catherine Guerra is the Founder of Re-Claiming Our Health. She is a Drinking Water Consultant, specializing in the health effects of water contaminants, the bottled water industry & its regulations, certification programs for water filtration devices, and the quality and cost-effectiveness of water filtration devices.
She has written a self-published book & received a grant for its distribution to low-income women with cancer, from the Symington Foundation. She is currently working on making her books available as ebooks.
Catherine has been interviewed by Natural Nealth Magazine - “Survival by Instinct,” portrait of Catherine Guerra, a breast cancer survivor who chose alternative treatments, Natural Health (1999). You can contact Catherine in her home office in California.
I hope that I have been able to provide you with some eye opening information about the environmental & health impacts of drinking tap water. The quality of your drinking water is essential to good health.
You can contact Catherine in her home office in California:
510-842-3032 or 510-292-7767
Email: catherine@healerwoman.org
Or for more information go to: http://www.healerwoman.org
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Catherine_Guerra
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