Congress takes a deeper look at bottled water

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on July 9 sent letters to 13 bottled water companies requesting documents related to testing of bottled water and its sources and lists of names and locations of each company's water sources.

The move followed a July 8 hearing at which federal officials pushed Congress to impose for more stringent safety guidelines for bottle waters. Read "Is Tap Water Safer Than Bottled?" from the Consumer Reports Safety blog for more details.

"Our hearing brought a great deal of information to light regarding the differences between the regulation of bottled water and tap water," commented Representative Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat, on the committee's Web site. "We also found that neither the public nor federal regulators know nearly enough about where bottled water comes from and what safeguards are in place to ensure its safety."

During the hearing, officials cited these findings from a June 2009 report by the General Accounting Office (PDF):

• The FDA lacks specific statutory authority to require bottlers to use certified laboratories for water-quality tests or to report test results, if violations of the standards are found. Public water companies, by contrast, must report make public the presence of dangerous contaminants violations within 24 hours.

• Bottled-water companies don't have to reveal the presence of DEHP, a phthalate recently banned for use in children's products.

• Only "a small percentage" of 83 bottled-water companies could provide the same level of detail as municipal systems about their water, based on the GAO's review of bottle labels, company Web sites, and direct queries to companies themselves.

• Many of the state officials surveyed said that consumers often believe bottled water is healthier than tap water.

• State standards for bottled water, while often stricter than the FDA's, are less strict than state standards for public tap water.

In his testimony before the committee, Joseph K. Doss, the president and CEO of the International Bottled Water Association, claimed the IBWA's Code of Practice for bottled water is even more stringent than FDA requirements for testing and monitoring. But on July 9, the IBWA issued a release saying it was willing to work with the FDA to address the issues contained in the GAO report.

The bottled-water industry has faced increasing questions about the health and environmental impact of its product, packaging, and production processes.

And last week, residents of the rural town of Bundanoon, Australia, voted to ban the sale of bottled water after they discovered that their well water was being shipped about 100 miles Sydney, bottled, and then shipped back to them for resale. The same day, the premier of the state of New South Wales voted to end government purchases of bottled water.—Gian Trotta | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential Information: Find out how to read your municipal water report and check out our report on water-filtration systems (ratings available to subscribers), which covers faucet-mounted, countertop, undersink, reverse-osmosis, and whole-house models.

Comments

[Tom Lauria]

Here are some details on July 8, 2009, hearing on the regulation of bottled water that was missed in ConsumerReports.org's reporting.

"In general, FDA's oversight of bottled water can be described as successful. The Agency is aware of no major outbreaks of illness or serious safety concerns associated with bottled water over the past decade," said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner of food and drugs, FDA.

There has been no conclusive evidence that bottled water has caused illnesses in the past five years, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office's survey of 50 States and District of Columbia. According to the Centers for Disease Control, each year there are anywhere from 4 million to 33 million cases of gastrointestinal illness associated with public drinking water systems. Perhaps this government data prompts some consumers to prefer bottled water for their personal hydration and refreshment. Most often, consumer "preference" is stated as a matter of convenience and availability.

"Federal law requires FDA to set similar standards for bottled water as exist for municipal water, or explain why they should not apply," Dr. Sharfstein stated.

In accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act, FDA regulations for bottled water are at least as stringent as those imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for municipal drinking water.

"FDA has established standards for more than 90 contaminants. And in some cases, such as for lead or copper, FDA limits are stricter for bottled water than for municipal water," Dr. Sharfstein told Congress under oath.

Bottled waters come from carefully selected sources, use state-of-the-art filtration and quality control processes, and are bottled in hygienically-sealed containers. One of the major bottled water companies I represent tests approximately 2,000 samples a day of its bottled water. Gallon for gallon, studies show some bottled water companies test their water nearly 68 times more frequently than most municipal water suppliers.

If they are a member of IBWA, bottling plants also undergo vigorous independent annual inspection by certified third-party experts. These facilities are also subject to both state and federal regulations.

At present, members of the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), the bottled water industry trade group, are encouraged to release information about the contents of their water. People can go to the IBWA Web site, www.bottledwater.org, to obtain contact information or water quality information for all IBWA member brands. IBWA has petitioned the FDA to require all bottled water labels to include a telephone number that will allow consumers to contact manufacturers for information not already on the labels. Of we're willing to work with FDA to find and improve ways make it easier for consumers to get water quality information. Cooperation between industry and government regulators is always the preferred course of action.

As for DEHP, it is not used by bottled water companies in any size container, period. Of course, we have no objection to FDA issuing a standard of identity for when its use is appropriate.