If you turn to bottled water in an attempt to avoid chemicals from the tap, your efforts may be in vain.
A new one study She has discovered that water in single-use plastic bottles contains the same disinfectants as tap water.
Researchers found bacteria, lead and disinfectant byproducts at varying levels in tap, bottled and treated water in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Previous studies have linked consumption of these pollutants in large quantities to neurological problems, cancer and liver damage.
However, researchers cautioned that nearly all of the water tested was still below federal drinking water quality thresholds set by the EPA, meaning drinking water from any of those three sources is likely safe.
Bottled water is popular in the United States: in 2020, the average American drank 45 gallons of water per year.
Still, the study’s findings come amid a series of recent reports released by the EPA on a range of contaminants found in the water, including microplastics, perennial chemicals and arsenic.
Samantha Bear, a research scientist at SimpleLab and lead author of the study, told DailyMail.com: “We were a little surprised to see that bottled water and home-treated water didn’t show any significant differences. It was really surprising. And tap water was a unique thing.”
The researchers analyzed drinking water from the San Francisco Bay Area, including 100 bottled water samples, 603 tap water samples, and 111 treated household water samples (water that has been filtered at home using a Brita filter).
These included bottles labeled as spring, artesian, mineral, well, and purified water and were purchased in July 2022.
The homes tested were those that purchased a water quality testing kit from SimpleLab Inc.
They analyzed it for contaminants and the results of the study were published in the journal The Public Library of Water Sciences.
The team found that about 53 percent of bottled water, 61 percent of home-treated tap water, and 98 percent of untreated tap water tested were linked to at least one health problem.
The most common contaminant they found was byproducts of chlorine used to disinfect water, called trihalomethanes.
These were found in all three water sources, but the highest levels were found in tap water.
Trihalomethanes get into bottled water when it is treated with chlorine to sterilize the product or when the water source the company uses to bottle its water already has chlorine or its byproducts.
Consuming high amounts of trihalomethanes has been linked to developmental delays, reproductive effects, liver damage, and an increased risk of cancer.
As such, the EPA has a threshold for the amount of these chemicals allowed in drinking water.
Eight bottled water samples exceeded California’s legal limits, which are stricter than EPA guidelines
Ms Bear said exposure to chemicals such as disinfectant byproducts is linked to a higher risk of some health conditions, but it does not automatically mean drinking them will cause harm.
Climate change, aging infrastructure and pollution all contribute to the difficulties people currently have in obtaining clean water, but this has mostly been studied in tap water, Bear said.
In response, Americans have turned to bottled water. Total amounts used have risen from 28 gallons per person per year in 2010 to 45 gallons per person per year in 2020.
But Ms. Bear and her colleagues at SimpleLab, a company that sells home testing kits for water and soil, knew that bottled water has some of the same additives found in other water sources, and they felt people were turning to bottled water because of a lack of evidence.
“There’s a general perception that bottled water is pure, sterile, bacteria-free,” Bear said. “Certainly, it’s generally pretty clean, but it’s not necessarily… the best standard, the best that there is.”
Water authorities warn The risk of coming into contact with these chemicals is actually greater in untreated water than in water that has been disinfected, simply due to the natural reserves of chlorine in the environment.
Untreated tap water had the highest amount of contaminants associated with health risks. Bottled water and treated water for household use (the same as water you get from utilities) had about the same levels of chemicals, making them roughly equal, Bear said.
Other contaminants researchers found in the water they tested included heavy metals such as lead.
Lead often enters the water supply through older pipes or infrastructure. It was detected in 30 percent of treated household tap water and 51 percent of tap water samples.
Frequent exposure to lead can cause neurological, developmental, learning and behavioral problems, most commonly in children.
The study was not able to look at other factors that might worry people, such as permanent chemicals or microplastics.
Ms Bear cautioned that although these contaminants are linked to health problems, that does not mean drinking water is unsafe.
Even if you find that your home has high levels of a contaminant in your drinking water, there are inexpensive and effective filters you can purchase that will significantly reduce your risks.
“I’m a big fan of tap water. I think it’s important for all of us to have this information so we can choose what we want to drink and everyone has their own choices. Each person’s risk tolerance is different,” Bear told this website.
She added: “I am glad to have the information about my water so I can make these decisions.”