
Arsenic in Some Bottled Water Brands at Unsafe Levels, Consumer Reports Says - adanto6840
https://www.consumerreports.org/water-quality/arsenic-in-some-bottled-water-brands-at-unsafe-levels/
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jandrewrogers
Bottled water has always had a dubious record when it comes to contamination
but arsenic safety regulations have been muddied by unrelated politics.

The EPA sets the ideal level at zero (no safe level) with a max of 10ppb but
it is also an essential micronutrient in mammalian biology. It is similar in
profile to selenium -- highly toxic in all but microscopic doses but necessary
to live. For arsenic, much of this comes naturally in water or via eating
animals that drink water. Current mammalian models suggest that humans require
something like 20-50ug of arsenic, equivalent to drinking a few liters of
water at the current max allowed level. Nothing too controversial here, but it
should cause one to raise an eyebrow when a government agency asserts that an
essential micronutrient is toxic at doses low enough to cause deficiency.

Current reductions in allowed levels are part of a proxy war on mining.
Geology that naturally has background arsenic levels far above this limit is
also correlated with minerals worth mining. Even if the mining is done cleanly
and releases no additional arsenic into the environment, you are still
responsible for remediating the area to the safety standard and not the
natural background level. It ends up being a _de facto_ ban on new mining in
some regions, which is the intent. Decades ago this strategy was applied to
natural contaminants that are unconditionally bad for human biology, which
made it easy to set extremely low safety limits. In recent years, it has been
expanded to natural contaminants where the mandated levels have a sketchier
basis in science.

Which isn't to say that bottled water contamination is not a problem, just
that I am skeptical that the arsenic levels being discussed here are anywhere
close to harmful. They are collateral damage in an unrelated political battle.

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matt-attack
I purchased this high-flow 3M filter which just goes on your cold water tap in
the kitchen:

3M Aqua-Pure Under Sink Water Filtration System - Model 3MFF100
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M216HFW/](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M216HFW/)

I’ve mostly given up on bottled water as a result. It’s a bit odd to run all
your water through the filter but once you resign yourself to replacing it
once a year, the anxiety of washing dishes with filtered water goes away.
Installation was a snap and the water tastes fantastic. Still haven’t order a
pair of water quality tests (before/after) but I’m looking forward to doing
so.

~~~
ceejayoz
I doubt those stop arsenic, though. You'd need something like a reverse
osmosis or distillation system for that.

~~~
saagarjha
Generally, your municipal water supply is doing a decent job at that.

~~~
orhmeh09
For far too many Americans, this is not the case, sadly.
[http://theconversation.com/the-us-drinking-water-supply-
is-m...](http://theconversation.com/the-us-drinking-water-supply-is-mostly-
safe-but-thats-not-good-enough-115028)

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oil25
We've been using a Big Berkey water filtration system for some years now and
totally did away with plastic-bottled water. The arsenic/flouride filters are
optional, but I think worth it. I recently commissioned a lab test for my
drinking water and the filters appear to be very effective, although it may be
the case that my city water is already high quality and arsenic-free (for
now). Regardless, I feel the money spent on Berkey and its filters were worth
it, even if just for my own psychological coddling.

~~~
perfunctory
Is it really necessary to use filters, isn't tap water safe for drinking in
the US?

~~~
asark
Filtered or bottled often tastes a lot better. Depends on where you live.
Tap's noticeably worse than bottled or filtered where we live now, but not
intolerably bad.

We used to live somewhere (in the US, to be clear) that, if you made iced tea
with tap water, you could _smell_ it as you brought it to your mouth. The
water, I mean, not the tea. Smelled kinda sulfurous, and otherwise just off-
putting. You could tell if a restaurant didn't filter their water because you
could _smell_ it in the cup, from a good foot away (luckily, most filtered
it). This despite bathing and washing clothes in it and therefore probably
being less sensitive to the odor than someone from out of town would be.

Needless to say it tasted terrible. We didn't even _cook_ with that stuff.
Cheap gallon jugs of filtered water for cooking.

~~~
voldacar
>if you made iced tea with tap water, you could smell it as you brought it to
your mouth. The water, I mean, not the tea. Smelled kinda sulfurous, and
otherwise just off-putting.

Well water I assume?

~~~
asark
It was municipal water. Whole town was that way. _googles_ Looks like it came
from the Ozark Aquifer. No clue what weirdness was happening to it in between,
but it reliably drew a " _sniff sniff_ WTF?" from visitors. Again, you could
tell when a restaurant in the area was serving water straight from the tap in
by smell, before the water reached your lips.

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simonebrunozzi
Since I've read many of you mention filtered water systems, any good
recommendations for a Reverse Osmosis (RO) system? (currently living in San
Francisco)

~~~
DougWebb
I've been using Waterwise distillers for 20 years or so. I used the 9000 model
for a long time, and for the past several years I've been using the 3200. I
make 1-2 gallons of water a day, every day. Buy a spare container so you can
keep one in the fridge while one is being made. They don't last forever, but
Waterwise's customer support has been great; I've done repairs a few times and
gotten replacements at reasonable prices.

[https://www.waterwise.com/product-category/waterwise-
water-d...](https://www.waterwise.com/product-category/waterwise-water-
distillers-for-home-and-office/)

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evo_9
I switched to Flow water recently, highly recommended and a nice alternative
to sport drinks if you are in need a good source of electrolytes. I drink a 33
oz bottle during each of my 3-4 skates (hockey) a week. My wife loves the
flavored versions too, and often have that with our dinners.

[https://flowhydration.com](https://flowhydration.com)

~~~
mehrdadn
> if you are in need a good source of electrolytes

How do you know if you're in need of a good source of electrolytes?

~~~
lightbritefight
If you workout and have sharp, sudden muscle cramps in the affected areas,
youre in need of electrolytes.

If you are about to do the same workout that causes the above, its a good idea
to imbide them beforehand instead.

~~~
dghughes
You'll probably consume three of the most common electrolytes; sodium,
potassium, and calcium even without trying. Sources table salt, bananas, milk.
Chloride is in tomato products and tomatoes also are sources of potassium. The
others are quite common in everyday food types too.

You pretty much need to go out of your way to not consume any of those
essential electrolytes. SI can't really imagine that strenuous exercise
shouldn't deplete electrolytes unless it's for a really long period in hot
conditions.

~~~
evo_9
I don’t eat much, big fan if Green Chef’s paleo menu, typical dinner is under
500 calories. I generally eat salad for Lunch.

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lightedman
2/3 of bottled water is contaminated in one form or another. No joke the best
option is usually straight from your tap with a good filtration system,
preferably RO.

~~~
Joakal
How do you know 2/3 of bottled water is contaminated? In what way?

~~~
thatcat
If you include the Bpa from the plastic itself as contamination, that puts it
at closer to 100%.

~~~
swebs
Disposable PET bottles don't contain BPA. Some of the reusable ones do.

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callmeal
>On April 26, (2019!) CR learned that the Food and Drug Administration has
known of high arsenic levels in Peñafiel bottled water, from Keurig Dr Pepper,
since at least 2013.

Wow. Just Wow.

This ties in so well with the other news article about how the US is turning
into a developing country for some segment of the population.

~~~
swixm
Isn't that segment of the population unlikely to consume bottled water?

~~~
ljf
I'll try to find the article, but there are parts of the USA where it is
cheaper to drink bottled water and have a portapotty outside your house than
it is to have mains water

