Bottled water: more harmful to health and the environment

Although the consumption of tap water has decreased during the last fifteen years, bottled water is increasingly consumed. However, this distrust towards tap water would be unfounded according to a new study published by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, which shows that the consumption of bottled water would be more harmful to the environment, as well as to the population. Human health.

Do you drink tap water or do you prefer bottled water? This question has been asked in homes around the world for a long time. Between the mistrust of tap water and ecological awareness, opinions are divided. Last July, the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) published a new study in the scientific journal Science of the Total Environment, and the experts are positive: drinking bottled water would be more harmful to the environment and human health. 

The new study published by these scientists was carried out in Barcelona, in the capital of Catalonia in Spain, where 1.6 million people regularly consume bottled water. The scientists carried out analyzes on the composition of the local waters, comparing bottled water, tap water and filtered tap water.

They also analyzed the impact of a plastic bottle on the environment, studying the useful life of the bottle, as well as its manufacture, transport, distribution and use. Then, the extraction of raw materials necessary for the filling of plastic bottles was also examined.

Finally, the researchers recreated several scenarios in the city of Barcelona: the current situation was compared with a complete switch to tap water, bottled water, and then filtered tap water.

According to the results of these numerous analyses, drinking bottled water would have obvious negative consequences on our health and the environment.

Tap water would be better for your health

EIn 2019, an American study published in the Heliyon journal warned the population about the potential dangers associated with drinking tap water. In fact, in the United States, it would be more likely to cause cancer than bottled water, because it would contain trace amounts of disinfectants and radioactive products.

“The vast majority of piped water systems comply with legal doses. However, this study shows us that contaminants present in water in perfectly legal concentrations can negatively affect human health, ”said Dr. Olga Naidenko, author of the American study.

Unlike bottled water, tap water is healthier because it contains fewer plastic particles.

As a result, more and more people have developed a distrust of tap water and have preferred to drink bottled water, which they consider to be purer. However, scientists at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health now argue that the risk of developing cancer from drinking tap water is very low compared to the risk of impacting the environment.

“While it is true that tap water may contain trihalomethanes (THMs) from the disinfestation process and that THMs are associated with bladder cancer, the study shows that due to the high quality of tap water in Barcelona, the risk for health is low, especially when the general impact of bottled water is taken into account, ”said Cristina Villanueva, author of the study. A quality very similar to the waters available in Europe and France.

 

In addition, since November 3, 1998, the European Union has followed strict regulations regarding the drinking water treatment process. Therefore, the risks of developing cancer or any other health problem from consuming tap water remain infinitely low. Much more specific and alarming issues should concern us, such as air quality and the presence of plastic particles in industrial foods. The fear developed against tap water then seems very incoherent in view of the known risks.

Plastic particles in bottled water

According to the Barcelona study, tap water is also better controlled than water from private companies in plastic. While bottled water purveyors claim their water is purer because it’s taken directly from the source, scientists dispute this claim ahead of any commercialization. In fact, tap water contains fewer particles that are harmful to health, such as the plastic particles found in water bottles.

“We should focus on tap water, which is the most controlled in the world. In tap water, all impurities and bacteria will have been removed, while bottled water has absolutely no health benefits. Most of the Bottled mineral waters have no minerals,” said Gilbert Deray, head of the nephrology department at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris.

In March 2018, the researchers published a study on the Orb Media platform to show the results of their analyzes on bottled water. For their research, the scientists tested more than 250 bottles of water in nine countries around the world. In total, 93% of them contain plastic particles, the potential dangers of which to human health are still unknown and poorly studied. These plastic particles are also present in tap water, but in much smaller amounts.

Bottled water is harmful to the environment

While bottled water may raise concerns about human health, it is above all a problem for the environment. In fact, the ISGlobal study shows that the consumption of bottled water would have an environmental impact 3,500 times greater than that of tap water, and ecosystems would be 1,400 times more impacted. Bottled water consumption is primarily harmful to the environment because it results in the extraction of raw materials, the cost of which is estimated at $84 million per year.

Furthermore, plastic bottles are still all too often left in nature after use. Even when these bottles are collected and sorted, some of them end up in the sea or in a landfill, as observations show. Outsourced recycling has become a source of pollution like any other. On average, an estimated 90 billion plastic bottles are released each year.

“In tap water, you have an average of 80 milligrams of calcium per liter, which is highly recommended for your health. Furthermore, it is estimated that approximately 90 billion plastic bottles are made for water each year, which means 90 billion bottles end up in nature. It takes 500 years to degrade a plastic bottle. Plastic is the most important waste, it is what will destroy our planet,” said Gilbert Deray.

Every year, 90 billion plastic bottles are released.

This massive abandonment of plastic bottles is one of the main causes of ocean pollution. According to a study published April 24, 2020 in the journal Nature Communications, there are now large numbers of microplastics present in all oceans, including the Arctic Ocean.

“The number of particles trapped in Arctic ice was up to three orders of magnitude higher than reported in a previous study,” say the researchers at the Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, who led the study.

But then, what behavior to adopt in front of this new data? According to Cathryn Tonne, co-author of the ISGlobal study, “Drinking filtered tap water would be the best way to protect your health and the environment. “There is no longer any doubt about that. Tap water, filtered or not, remains in most cases, barring a local technical incident, the best way to quench your thirst while generating as little pollution as possible..