Scientists say booming bottled water industry is causing a huge toll on human and planetary health, calling for fundamental rethink of widespread use. In this blog, we uncover the shocking facts about bottled water from quality to environmental footprint and why tap water is a clear winner as a sustainable and healthy alternative.
The Illusion of Bottled Water
Bottled water has an undeniable appeal and is marketed to the public as a way of ensuring tap water is safe, which also suggests that it healthier too. Yet the unfortunate truth is that bottled water frequently does not meet similar standards for quality and safety as tap water.
Actually, research has linked 10% to as many as 78% of tested bottled water samples over the years to contaminants, including microplastics and various chemicals such as hormonal disruptors and others. This model has been used by the researchers to mimic conditions of atmospheric pollution, which can lead to inflammation in the airways and difficulty breathing in susceptible populations — children who are not only predisposed to asthma, but whose brain functions are still developing, affecting their health across the life span.
Worse still, the evidence is still scandalously thin on how years-long exposure to these pollutants affects people’s health. The idea that supporters of bottled water try to spread is that having bottled water is safer and healthier, but the real question, when will we do general population know it and stop lying to them.
The Cost for Bottled Water of The Environment
Let us not forget that the environmental costs of bottled water also are massive. The use of plastic bottles (which constitute the second major polluter of oceans) also accounts 12 % of all plastic waste in total worldwide. A staggering 91% of these bottles are not recycled, finding their way to dump sites, incinerators or exported to other countries where in many cases the waste management is done under unsafe circumstances with severe social consequences.
In additon to these natural resources, the environmental toll only continues. It also takes energy and emits greenhouse gases to extract the raw materials for making them, and then manufacture those bottles. And shipping bottles of water across the world also costs a good deal of energy, making it even worse.
The problem goes far beyond this, however: even in countries with access to safe tap water, dependent use of bottled water is not good. It creates a huge amount of waste, but also all the resources invested into creating and distributing bottled water are not spent on an even bigger public health issue which is investing in safe drinking water infrastructure, something millions around the world do not have.
Conclusion
Indeed the human and planetary cost of bottled water consumption is now so great that it demands an immediate reassessment of its ubiquity. This is a problem that needs to be solved by governments, policymakers and the public coming together. While addressing the myriad issues created by bottled water will take many forms, prioritizing consumption of tap water and investing in sustainable systems to provide it is an important expression of commitment to a more environmentally responsible and public-health-conscious future.
