Plastic Travel Bottles

Bottled water , once a rarity, is now found everywhere, in homes, offices, stores, airplanes, and restaurants. In 2006, more than eight billion gallons of bottled water has been consumed throughout the world. In 2007, consumption in the United States alone amounted to 8.8 billion gallons or 29 liters per person. Bottled water is the second most consumed beverage in the United States after the soft drinks.

Over the past two decades, people have increasingly switching to bottled water because they feel safe, find it refreshing, calorie-free, convenient to carry around, tastier than tap water and healthier than soft drinks. But more and more wondering if the water and the packet, it happens, that's for sure, or at least safer than tap water - and if the convenience is worth the environmental impact.

Why the growing demand for bottled water?

Most people have bottled water because

• They consider bottled water safer than tap water.


• It is portable and easy to carry.


• It is refreshing


• It is considered good for health.

Tap water may be contaminated by a range of chemical, microbial and physical hazards that could pose risks to health if they are present at high levels. Among the chemicals include lead, arsenic and benzene. Microbial bacteria, viruses and parasites such as Vibrio cholerae, hepatitis A, and Crytosporidium parvum, respectively. Physical hazards include glass chips and metal fragments. Due to the large number of risks associated with drinking water, development of standards for drinking water requires significant resources and expertise, which many countries can not afford.

Some useful information

• Tap Water vs. Bottled Water - It is a common belief that water is better than tap waster botted. Although it may be true in developing countries, this is not the case in many developed countries. A four-year investigation of the water industry bottled conducted by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Canada found that a third of bottled water tested contained levels of contamination above the permissible limits in under either State or bottled water industry standards or water guidelines. The survey also noted that an estimated 25 per cent or more of bottled water was simply tap water in a bottle - sometimes further treated, sometimes not


• Know your water - To determine bottled water is really just tap water, check the label or the cap says "from a municipal source" or "a Community water.


• Contaminants in bottled water - During the investigation NRDC found bottled water relatively free of most contaminants. The survey was of the opinion that the "sporadic" product quality of some brands could "pose a risk to health, especially for people with weakened immune systems (eg, frail elderly, some children transplant and cancer patients or people living with HIV / AIDS). "About 22 percent of the brands they tested contained, in at least one sample, chemical contaminants at levels above strict limits State Health. If consumption over a long period of time, some of these contaminants can cause health problems or other cancers.


• health risks from plastic water bottles - Recent research conducted by NRDC has revealed the presence of chemicals called phthalates, which are known to disrupt testosterone and other hormones, and may seep into the bottled water over time. One study found that water.