Bottled Water Regulation

The introduction of bottling water started in United Kingdom in 1622 at the Holy Well, as time passed bottled water started to become popular in demand especially in the 17th and 18th century used in water therapy and spa-going in Europeans and American colonist .The inclination of using bottled water has reached its ultimate peak especially in the 21st century; this is due to the easy accessibility and convenience. Now with the increasing standard of living bottled water is more affordable to people and it can be gotten anywhere in the country. Despite the convenience of bottled water, there are some harmful effect towards the environment and the health risks that can arise.

Although convenient and accessible to most of the population, water

For this we take in the research done in United States of America. Both Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are accountable for the security of drinking water. FDA manages the safety of bottled water while EPA manages the safety of tap water. However, FDA’s regulations does not include in water packaged within the same state, hence roughly 60-70 per cent of marketed bottled water are excluded from the FDA’s regulations. In fact, FDA’s rules are substandard compared to EPA’s regulation; This can be seen as the evaluation of the pathogens Cryptosporidium or Giardia which are the usual cause of diarrhoea are only tested in tap water but bottled water companies are not required to do this. Also, according to WWF in many countries bottled water is not safer than tap water, but it is sold 1000 times the

Studies reports that plastic packaging such as used in bottled water can contain Bisphenol A (BPA). This chemical can change the chemical makeup of hormones in the human body. The Environment California Research and Policy Centre have linked BPA to various types of cancer such as breast and uterine cancer. BPA is also known to reduce testosterone levels and cause miscarriages. Alongside that, BPA can distrust the children developing system in the early childhood years. Although the amount of BPA that leeches are in small quantity but the cumulative effect are concerning. There are also reports done by the Natural Resource Defence Council that a water bottle that stores water for 10 weeks can cause a chemical called phthalates to leak into the water, this chemical is known to disrupt testosterone and other hormones. This is harmful towards the human