Despite growing concerns over exposure to the toxic chemical BPA (bisphenol-A) widely found in plastic bottles and the excessive costs coupled with mounting waste associated with bottled water, Americans are drinking more of it than ever, cites sales figures reported by Beverage Marketing Corp.

In efforts to boost sales of the suffering bottled water industry, trade organization, The International Bottled Water Association, has launched a campaign against what it calls “anti-bottled water activism on college campuses.”

In a growing trend sweeping across college campuses, more than 20 universities have implemented bans on plastic water bottles, and in some cases, banned all beverages sold in plastic bottles.

Her piece was powerful since the pure scope of studies that come out seemingly daily – from the latest on weight loss to the impact of red wine on health – can truly make our heads spin!

Begley takes the BPA argument to task, showcasing both sides of the battle: that BPA is perfectly safe versus extremely dangerous to our health; and she reminds us that ‘whether a study is good or not depends on how it was conducted.’

But what hit me the hardest in her piece was astonishing new BPA info that we’re ingesting more BPA than even the safety agencies, like the FDA, realize:

“In addition to hard plastic and epoxy can linings, it turns out, newspaper ink and carbonless copy paper – the stuff of credit car receipts and all sorts of business and medical documents – contain high amounts of BPA. Recycled, they wind up in food containers such as pizza boxes, along with the BPA.”

Recycling? Great. Recycling BPA?...now that’s a nightmare scenario.  More reason why BPA should simply be banned so that it’s lifecycle doesn’t extend to unexpected and unmonitored arenas, like a good old fashioned delivery box of pizza.

Via:  Newsweek, June 29, 2009

The Environmental Working Group presented an 18-month study to a congressional oversight hearing about the gaps in government regulation of the bottled water industry.

Summing up the problem nicely is Wenonah Hauter, executive director of the non-profit consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch:

“The Bottled water industry's strategy has been to market bottled water as the safe and clean alternative to tap water…This myth has been used to trick consumers into paying thousands times more for a product that is the same or even more polluted than the water available from our faucets. Tap water in the United States undergoes rigorous testing for contaminants—as often as 480 times a month, far more than the once–a–week test for bottled water.”

FDA vs. EPA

Under the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, bottled water companies have complete latitude to choose what, if any, information to divulge to consumers about their water.

Compare that to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) -- the federal agency that oversees the nation’s municipal water utilities. All 52,000 nationwide community tap water suppliers need to produce an annual water quality report detailing the water source and pollutant testing results, as required under the Safe Drinking Water Act. (Although tap water does come with its own set of problems…)

Watered Down Labels

Furthermore, EWG researchers analyzed labels and websites from 188 bottled waters to learn which bottlers voluntarily disclosed the same information as required of community water suppliers. EWG found that many disclose little to no information at all on water source and purity.

What You Can Do

To sum it up, aqua junkies, I suggest that you:

• Buy a sturdy reusable water bottle which will save the on plastic waste and save you money
• Install a high quality water filtration system in your home

If you have to buy bottled, make it one that counts, like:

• Ethos: Available at Starbucks, this company gives .05 of every bottle to humanitarian water programs around the globe.
• Park City Ice Water: Uses 75% less energy to produce packaging than its counterparts
• Project 7: 50% of sales go to one of 7 critical areas including feeding the hungry, healing the sick, etc.
• Keeper Springs: Robert Kennedy’s own, all profits go to the environment