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Ditch Bottled Water Now: Hidden Health Risks and Environmental Damage Uncovered
https://scitechdaily.com/ditch-bottled-water-now-hidden-health-risks-and-environmental-damage-uncovered/Estimated 1 million bottles bought every minute and demand is rising, warns expert.
Every minute, one million bottles of water are purchased globally, a habit that not only strains human health with the risk of chemical contamination from plastics but also burdens our planet by contributing to immense plastic waste and greenhouse gas emissions. Despite this, only 9% of these bottles are recycled, underscoring an urgent need for a shift towards tap water, which is both safer and more environmentally friendly.
Growing Concerns Over Bottled Water
The huge and growing toll bottled water is taking on human and planetary health warrants an urgent rethink of its use as 1 million bottles are bought every minute around the globe, with that figure set to rise further still amid escalating demand, warn population health experts in a commentary published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health.
Some 2 billion people around the world with limited or no access to safe drinking water rely on bottled water. But for the rest of us, it’s largely a matter of convenience and the unshaken belief—aided and abetted by industry marketing—that bottled water is safer and often healthier than tap water.
Health Risks From Bottled Water
It isn’t, insist the authors from Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar.
That’s because bottled water often isn’t subject to the same rigorous quality and safety standards as tap water, and it can carry the risk of harmful chemicals leaching from the plastic bottles used for it, especially if it’s stored for a long time, and/or exposed to sunlight and high temperatures, they explain.
Between an estimated 10% and 78% of bottled water samples contain contaminants, including microplastics, often classified as hormone (endocrine) disruptors, and various other substances including phthalates (used to make plastics more durable) and bisphenol A (BPA).
The huge and growing toll bottled water is taking on human and planetary health warrants an urgent rethink of its use as 1 million bottles are bought every minute around the globe, with that figure set to rise further still amid escalating demand, warn population health experts in a commentary published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health.
Some 2 billion people around the world with limited or no access to safe drinking water rely on bottled water. But for the rest of us, it’s largely a matter of convenience and the unshaken belief—aided and abetted by industry marketing—that bottled water is safer and often healthier than tap water.
Health Risks From Bottled Water
It isn’t, insist the authors from Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar.
That’s because bottled water often isn’t subject to the same rigorous quality and safety standards as tap water, and it can carry the risk of harmful chemicals leaching from the plastic bottles used for it, especially if it’s stored for a long time, and/or exposed to sunlight and high temperatures, they explain.
Between an estimated 10% and 78% of bottled water samples contain contaminants, including microplastics, often classified as hormone (endocrine) disruptors, and various other substances including phthalates (used to make plastics more durable) and bisphenol A (BPA).
But how are the big beverage corporations supposed to pay their CEOs?
Ah. A tax on tap water. And a scare tactic on wells and springs.
20 replies
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But thanks anyway, Q.
