Bottled Water: Worse Than Tap!

I always laughed at people who thought it was "cool" or "hip" or whatever to buy and drink bottled water. "Well, it's better than Philly tap water!"

No... well, not by much.

Tests on leading brands of bottled water turned up a variety of contaminants, including cancer-linked chemicals three times higher than California's health standard, according to a study released Wednesday by an environmental advocacy group.

The findings challenge the popular impression — and marketing pitch — that bottled water is purer than tap water, the researchers say.

In the Wal-Mart and Giant Food bottled water, the highest concentration of chlorine byproducts, known as trihalomethanes, was over 35 parts per billion. California requires 10 parts per billion or less, and the industry's International Bottled Water Association makes 10 its voluntary guideline. The federal limit is 80.

Water researcher Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment of the University at Albany, who had no role in the study, singled out trihalomethanes as the biggest concern because of strong research links to cancer.

"These are levels that should not be in bottled water," he said.

So you basically aren't getting a ton of difference between the tap and the bottle; just the convince of a bottle if you can't find a water fountain around and $1.50 less in your pocket.

Source: USA Today