NEW YORK — A recently released report questioning the purity of bottled water does not raise any red flags concerning public health, according to one scientist who appeared on “Good Morning America” on October 16 to discuss bottled water safety.
The segment, “Bottled Water Safety: New reports illustrate potential problems with bottled water,” also featured interviews with International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) President Joseph Doss and Anila Jacobs from the Washington-based advocacy organization Environmental Working Group (EWG), which published the report on bottled water quality.
The EWG’s report, released October 15, found 38 contaminants in 10 popular brands of bottled water. As WaterTech Online™ reported, all brands tested met federal safe drinking water standards; however, two brands violated a state of California standard for disinfection byproducts that is stricter than the federal standard.
The scientist interviewed by “Good Morning America” about the report, Dr. Thomas Burke, is a professor and associate dean for Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. Burke also participated in development of the Safe Drinking Water Act while he served as deputy commissioner of health for the state of New Jersey and director of science and research for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, according to Johns Hopkins.
When asked about the study’s results, Burke said, “Is this a big new public health alarm? No.”
Burke noted that the contaminants that were reported to be found in bottled water were there in very small amounts. “They’re there well below the federal standard for public drinking water,” he added, noting that many of the same compounds have been identified in treated publicly supplied water.
The IBWA was receptive to Burke’s comments. “As outside scientists review this report, they conclude that the report is without merit. The minor instance of one state standard discrepancy has incorrectly blanketed all bottled water as being contaminated,” Tom Lauria, IBWA vice president for communications, told WaterTech Online.
Lauria added that “continued and constant vigilance now is required of IBWA as blogs and media are misinterpreting the Environmental Working Group study.” He noted that one blog contained the headline, “All top 10 brands of bottled water contaminated,” and then went on to discuss the EWG report.
Meanwhile, Dr. Stephen Edberg, professor at the Yale University School of Medicine and director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at the Yale-New Haven Hospital, refuted the EWG’s study on bottled water quality. Edberg serves as a consultant to a range of organizations including IBWA and Nestlé Waters North America.
Addressing the findings in an October 16 press release published on BusinessWire, Edberg said, “The Environmental Working Group’s study on bottled water is troubling for both its lack of acknowledgement of scientifically based history and for failing to conduct controlled scientific experiments. Its conclusions unduly confuse consumers through faulty methodologies and unsubstantiated findings.”
To watch the “Good Morning America” news segment, click here.
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