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Bottled Water
DID YOU KNOW
You pay almost 2,000 times more per litre buying bottled water then you do if you bought a good water filter and stored it in a Safe-T-Bottle!
Here is a brief discussion of the concerns associated with bottled water. For more detail, refer to the book Healthy Home, Healthy Family.
CONCERNS
There are several issues associated with bottled water that warrant discussion:
- Source of water - bottled water comes from either a natural source such as a spring or well OR from an approved potable municipal supply (tap water). History shows that natural sources are susceptible to periodical contamination from pollutants generated from agriculture (pesticides, fertilisers, and nitrates), industrial contaminants, algae blooms and bacterial issues. Despite this, bottled water companies are not obliged to regularly test or disclose these contaminants to consumers. In contrast there are strict guidelines for the testing and treatment of tap water.
- Microbial growth - apart from the bottles themselves, a concern associated with the reuse of bottled water is that the sputum harbours bacteria that can grow in the plastic itself. As such, it is critical that you do not reuse plastic PET water bottles. Plastics that don’t pose a health risk that can be reused (refer to plastic bottles below) should be washed in hot soapy water and dried thoroughly with every use.
- Environmental waste - if the water quality issue is not enough to get you to avoid plastic water bottles, then the environmental impact should. Disposable plastic water bottles are derived from a non-renewable source (oil), and have a high embodied energy as the fossil fuels required to produce, recycle and transport them is enormous. Despite manufacturer’s assurances that their bottles are biodegradable, the reality is that in Australia more than 65% ends up in landfill or in our waterways – that’s around 76,000 tonnes (Deery, 2008). In fact bottled water accounts for almost 38% of general waste! Furthermore these ‘biodegradable” bottles can take hundreds of years to break down!
- Plastic bottles - plastics can be differentiated by the resin identification code at the bottom of the bottle. The problem with plastics is that they may contain a range of additives that provide it with varying properties such as heat resistance, hardness, flexibility, resistance to degradation and transparency which are not evident by the recycling number. Consequently a plastic bottle can be made from a variety of copolymers and still legally be marketed as only having one type of plastic.
- # 1 bottles / Polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE) is the most commonly used plastic for disposable water bottles and soft drinks because it is the most recyclable. Whilst phthalates or other softening additives are not used in the manufacture of PET, recent reports suggest they may leach into the water causing an oestrogenic like effect if they have been recycled from personal care products (Wagner and Oehlmann, 2009; Pinto and Reali, 2009; Montuori et al, 2008). Another concern with PET bottles is the presence of the heavy metal antimony which may leach if the bottle is exposed to high temperatures of 60C or more such as during summer inside a car, garage or storage space (Westerhoff et al, 2008). Antimony in drinking water may lower blood sugar and increase blood cholesterol (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2009).
- # 2 bottles / HDPE (high density polyethylene) is a hard and recyclable plastic commonly used in conjunction with LDPE to make sports bottles amongst other things. It does not leach endocrine disrupting chemicals into the water and is a better choice when it comes to plastic drinking water vessels.
- # 3 bottles / Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is used in some food packaging including storage containers and juice bottles, as well as water pipes and some toys. PVC contains phthalates (DEHP, DEHA) which mimic the effects of oestrogen in the body and is associated with declining sperm counts and reproductive disorders. Furthermore it is toxic to the liver, kidneys and testicles.
- # 4 bottles / LDPE (low density polyethylene) is a soft, flexible plastic used in garbage and grocery bags, squeezable bottles, cling films, flexible container lids and some sports water bottles. Unlike HDPE, LDPE is not recyclable and therefore creates an environmental concern. However it is one of the safer types of plastics.
- # 5 bottles / Polypropylene is used in ice-cream and yoghurt containers, drinking straws, syrup bottles, diapers, margarine tubs, microwaveable ware, disposable take-away containers, domestic water pipes, some drinking water bottles, some ‘alternative’ baby bottles, as well as disposable cups and plates. It is a better option to use to store foods and liquids, however it is not recyclable.
- # 6 bottles / Polystyrene is used in a wide variety of applications from disposable cups, plates, trays and cutlery to take-away containers; yogurt and margarine containers, egg cartons, number plates and so on. There are serious concerns associated with the migration of contaminants such as nonylphenol which is an endocrine disrupter and benzene – a known cancer causing agent into food and beverages.
- # 7 bottles / are all other plastics such as polyethersulfone (PES) and Tritan which is a copolyester plastic and polycarbonate (PC) commonly used in baby bottles and office water bottles. The issues associated with PES and PC used in baby bottles are described in the Healthy Home, Healthy Family book. Number 7 bottles should be avoided unless they have been certified Leach Safe® such as the Safe-T-Bottle® range.