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Oct 15, 2008 7:27 pm US/Eastern
Study: Bottled Water No Better For You Than Tap
Research Reveals Booming Industry Produces Water Filled With 38 Chemicals, Including Fertilizer & Strontium
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Tests on leading brands of bottled water turned up a variety of contaminants often found in tap water, according to a study released Wednesday by an environmental advocacy group. (File)
AP
Americans spend more than $10 billion a year on bottled water, making the United States the world's leading consumer of it. But are you pouring money down the drain?
CBS 2 HD has learned details on a new study that charges bottled H2O is no better than what flows free from the tap.
So the debate rages on: bottled or tap?
Americans spent more money last year on bottled water than on iPods or movie tickets. Why do that when you can drink tap water for free?
"I go with bottle, because I don't know what the quality of the New York City tap water is," said Delroy Binger of Jamaica Estates.
A study released Wednesday charges leading brands of bottled water turned up a variety of contaminants often found in tap water.
"They found by-products of chlorine. It's used to disinfect municipal water supplies," said Alex Matthiessen of Hudson Riverkeeper. "As it turns out, 40 percent of bottled water is just tap water. Some chlorine gets into our water supply bottled or tap and some of those turn into by-products of chlorine which are carcinogenic and mutagenic."
The two-year study by an environmental watchdog group tested 10 brands. It found 38 chemicals, including arsenic, caffeine, the pain reliever acetaminophen, fertilizer, some plastic making chemicals and the radioactive element strontium. Two brands of bottled water violated California safety standards.
"It's an absolute myth that bottled water is somehow more pure, safer coming from a better source," Matthiessen said.
As president of Hudson Riverkeeper, a non-profit organization, Matthiessen is working to protect New York's drinking water supply. He advocates that New York City install modern public drinking water fountains, and get rid of the need for bottled water.
"In order to create these billions of water bottles we use 17 million gallons of oil," Matthiessen said.
The chemicals found in the brands tested were found in such trace amounts they all met federal health standards for drinking water. The Bottled Water Trade Association responded by saying the report contains false claims and exaggerations about bottled water products.
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