This is just in from the newswire. The FDA comes out with a statement about BPA. PLEASE take a moment to check out the link below. My goal is to keep you informed about all of the recent developments regarding BPA.
http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/bpa.html
Please forgive me in advance because this is a long entry for a blog. If you truly want to learn more about issues swirling around BPA, then please read it all. I think you’ll find it quite interesting.
Well, I think this week alone, there have been three front page articles in the Washington Post regarding Bisphenol-A (BPA). I thought it might be worthwhile to jot down some additional thoughts for people to consider.
One of the biggest problems fueling the BPA controversy is the idea that the FDA’s guideline for maximum BPA consumption (currently 50 micrograms/kilogram of bodyweight) is too high. Some researchers believe that number is too high (while the FDA and other researchers currently think it’s correct). The media has taken to the story and practically implies that any BPA at all will probably kill you.
So, to put that number - 50 micrograms/kilogram of bodyweight - into context, I think it would be beneficial to compare the FDA’s BPA guidelines to some other chemicals that are found around town. First of all, it is important to realize that BPA is a lot more prevalent in products than perhaps many people think. Did you know that in addition to being found in polycarbonate bottles, BPA is used to line the interior of just about every soup can, every beer can, every soda can, every baby formula can, every canned green beans can, etc. There are a very, very few food manufacturers who use other chemical formulations to line the interior of their cans. Obviously, every can has to be lined with something to keep the food or beverage from coming into direct contact with the metal of the can. Without a lining, the can would begin rusting immediately (if it was steel or tin). Aluminum cans would start leaching aluminum into the food or beverage if not properly lined. So, all cans need to be lined. Eden Foods, for example, claims that their cans are not lined with BPA – but I can’t find out exactly what chemicals they are using to line their cans.
So, BPA is out there in all sorts of places that people don’t normally think of. The media focus has been on bottles made out of polycarbonate. The National Toxicology Program, which recently released its preliminary findings, was primarily focused on the effects of BPA on babies and pregnant women. That focus was based upon research (done on mice) that suggests babies may be less able to process and eliminate BPA than are adults. The focus therefore was on baby bottles. Furthermore, mothers have been told to sterilize their baby bottles in order to kill bacteria. Washing baby bottles with boiling water can exacerbate the migration of BPA from polycarbonate bottles. So, BPA’s effects on infants have come into focus.
So, let’s dig a little deeper. For reference purposes, let’s take a person who weighs 154 lbs (that would be 70 kilograms). The FDA’s guideline of 50 micrograms per kilogram means that a 154 lb person should have a maximum daily BPA intake of not more than 3,500 micrograms of BPA (which is equivalent to 3.5 milligrams). Exactly how much is one microgram? Let’s say you put one microgram of BPA into a liter of water. The concentration of BPA would be one microgram per liter. That is the equivalent to one part per billion. That is a very small amount. It is the equivalent of one second in 32 years!! So 3,500 micrograms is equivalent to about one hour in 32 years.
The real question is how much is too much. Is it 3,500 micrograms? Is it 1,000 micrograms? Is it 100 micrograms? Should it be zero micrograms? I can assure you that I don’t know the answer to that question – nor do any of the scientists who have performed the studies. But, I do know that there are all sorts of chemicals that we consume every single day. Some are a lot more toxic than others. Let’s look at lead (a heavy metal that EVERYONE AGREES IS VERY, VERY TOXIC). EPA regulations say that that maximum amount of lead in tap water should be no more than 15 micrograms per liter (or 15 parts per billion). By the way, the FDA – which regulates bottled water says that maximum number for lead should be 10 micrograms per liter. So when you read that bottled water doesn’t even have to meet EPA levels – you know someone is being dishonest!! FDA bottled water regulations are considerably stricter than EPA regulations for tap water.
Does that mean that if your water has 12 micrograms/liter of lead in it, that it’s ok? In a sense yes, and, in other ways, no. I think if you asked most scientists, they would say that 12 is better than 15, but 2 would be better than 12, and zero would be better than 2. Same analysis goes for such tasty things as arsenic or chromium or cyanide. Did you know that the EPA’s maximum contaminant level for cyanide in tap water is 200 micrograms per liter ( while the FDA’s limit for cyanide in bottled water is 100 micrograms per liter). If you drink 3 liters of tap water in a day, that would mean that you could ingest up to 600 micrograms of cyanide and that would be within the limits of acceptability from a risk standpoint according to the EPA. Seems kinda crazy to me. Arsenic’s maximum is 10 micrograms per liter. These are some very toxic chemicals, yet the maximum is not zero.
The point is that it would be virtually impossible from a public policy standpoint to set all these levels to zero. Further confusing the issue is what exactly is zero? There are 1,000 nanograms in one microgram. If you said the limit for lead was one microgram per liter – that’s still 1,000 nanograms. Is that OK? Why not zero? One nanogram is equivalent to one second in 32,000 years!! When do you say enough is enough? That is truly a public policy issue.
So, let’s go back to BPA. How much is too much? Is the amount of BPA in polycarbonate bottles too much? If I told you that there was 1 microgram of BPA in a 5 gallon water bottle, would you switch to a glass bottle or a PET bottle? Remember the 3,500 micrograms? Remember the 600 micrograms of cyanide that the EPA would say is OK? Is BPA more toxic than cyanide? I kinda doubt that but you can and should reach your own conclusions. How many micrograms of BPA are in that can of soup you opened last night? How about those three beer cans you had last night? Drinking diet cola? Yep. Heck, just like with pharmaceuticals in tap water – could there be BPA in tap water? I believe the answer is yes – scientists have found very small amounts in tap water – probably less than 1 microgram per liter. But, what if it was 400 nanograms? Would that be OK?
In a sense, the current controversy surrounding BPA, makes that chemical out to be worse than cyanide or lead or arsenic or any one of a number of extremely toxic chemicals. My guess is that the FDA will review all of the available studies on BPA and determine that it is safe at a particular level. Will the “safe” level remain at 50 micrograms per kg of bodyweight? I don’t know. Maybe they set the new level at 40 micrograms or 25 micrograms or even 10 micrograms per kilogram. If they do that, then polycarbonate water bottles will be deemed safe. If they set a level for bottled water and tap water, the bottles will be deemed safe. Will the controversy go away? I don’t know, but probably not. Think back to the cyanide and arsenic examples. I don’t read anything about the toxicity of cyanide or arsenic in the morning paper – but it’s still very much allowable in food and water.
The bottom line is that every person and every family has to assess the risks and make decisions. I know one thing for certain. We use reverse osmosis technology to remove virtually 99.5% of ALL contaminants from the water. There’s no cyanide, arsenic or lead in our water. That is a good thing. I don’t want to consume more than my fair share of chemicals any more than you do. As a company, DrinkMore Water gives you options. We have BPA-free glass bottles. We have BPA-free plastic (PET #1) bottles. We have FDA-approved polycarbonate bottles. It’s your choice. I wish people would think the same way about the water they drink and the food they eat – and all the chemicals that can be found inside food and water – as they do about BPA. Because if they did, they would only drink DrinkMore Water.
Oh, and by the way, I bring home my DrinkMore Water in polycarbonate bottles. I’ve done so for 15 years, I have three kids, and I have my choice of whatever I want – glass, BPA-free plastic, or polycarbonate.
Told you it was interesting!
If you are interested in yet another perspective, I thought this article was more balanced than most. It just came out this weekend. Check it out:
There have been a number of media stories recently regarding the safety of bottles made out of polycarbonate – which has as one of its ingredients a substance called bisphenol A, or BPA. Several customers have called saying they saw one of these reports on TV or in the newspaper and were inquiring as to what DrinkMore Water had to say about the issue.
First of all, these reports are all reviews of existing studies. None of these reports or panels provides any new research, rather, they are commenting on and analyzing the studies that have been done in the past. The one thing that is perfectly clear to me is that a lot more research has to be done on the issue before definitive conclusions are reached. Polycarbonate has long been approved for usage by the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) for beverage containers. There are several things at issue here that the scientific community cannot seem to agree upon. For example, there is a question as to whether or not BPA can migrate from the bottle. That leads to other questions – like what test conditions should we use to see if BPA does or does not migrate. So, one camp says let's pour boiling hot water into the bottle, add harsh cleaning chemicals and see what happens with respect to migration. That would be simulating the worst possible scenario. Another camp might evaluate the migration issue using real world conditions – like washing at a much lower temperature with commonly used washing detergents.
Then there is the question of whether BPA is toxic at all. From my reading, there are no clear cut conclusions. It’s similar to the recent study by the Associated Press (which was also a review of existing literature) that concluded there were pharmaceutical drugs in the tap water of most communities nationwide. Birth control medications, high blood pressure drugs, and anti-depressants were among those identified. So, a big question is “how much is actually in there”? And the next question is “how much is too much”? I saw one analysis that suggested you would have to consume several thousand gallons of water before ever coming close to the dosage in a single birth control pill. So, should you be worried? That is for each person to decide for him/herself.
So, I went to the bottled water industry’s website and here is the statement that I found: http://www.bottledwatermatters.com/
I would encourage you to go and read that article. As far as DrinkMore Water is concerned, we continue to monitor the issue closely. As most of you already know, we carry several alternatives to the polycarbonate 5-gallon bottles. We carry both 3-gallon and 5-gallon glass bottles that are purity defined. Nothing can or will ever migrate from glass. Then we also carry a full line of BPA-Free PET (that’s #1 plastic) bottles including all sizes of single serve – 12 oz, ½ liter, 24 oz, 1 liter and 1.5 liters – as well as 5-gallon bottles in PET that do not have any BPA in them whatsoever. They come at a slightly higher cost than the polycarbonate bottles. If you are interested in switching to glass or PET bottles, please give our Customer Service Team a call and they can help you out.
Rest assured that your DrinkMore Water team is on top of this issue and will continue to keep you – our valued customers – informed of all the latest developments.
As many people have already heard, The Associated Press (AP) just reported that it conducted an extensive 5-month investigation into the possible existence of various pharmaceutical drugs in the nation’s water supply. The study indicated that both tap water systems (where trace pharmaceutical compounds were found in 24 of 28 major water systems tested) and many of the nation’s watersheds (where 28 of 35 tested watersheds were found to contain some of these compounds) were contaminated.
According to the AP, “In the United States, the problem isn't confined to surface waters. Pharmaceuticals also permeate aquifers deep underground, source of 40 percent of the nation's water supply. Federal scientists who drew water in 24 states from aquifers near contaminant sources such as landfills and animal feed lots found minuscule levels of hormones, antibiotics and other drugs”. That means that well waters and spring waters may also be implicated.
At DrinkMore Water, we have built our Company on the fundamental belief that the single, most important way to choose one’s drinking water is by its purity. Purity is paramount. That’s why our custom-designed purification system employs the latest and most effective technologies currently available. In fact, in the AP report itself – our technology is the only technology mentioned that eliminates virtually all of these trace pharmaceutical compounds.
According to the AP, “One technology, reverse osmosis, removes virtually all pharmaceutical contaminants but is very expensive for large-scale use …” The centerpiece of the DrinkMore Water purification system is, in fact, reverse osmosis technology. Yes, it is expensive to install and maintain, but the purity of our product demands nothing less. Many people – customers and non-customers alike – have called us today asking the question of whether DrinkMore’s technology can remove pharmaceutical compounds from the water – and the answer is a resounding yes. Our technology removes virtually all of these types of compounds. In fact, we remove more than 99.5% of all impurities found in water. More than 99.5%!!
One question raised by the study is whether or not we’re looking at the tip of a veritable iceberg. There is little doubt that this very issue will be with us for a very long time. Do these compounds cause harm to humans in the amounts found? That is truly an impossible question to answer at this point and certainly, much more research needs to be done on this matter. But, in the DC area, the study looked at only six pharmaceutical compounds. There are literally tens of thousands of man-made chemical compounds in the environment. Are they all in the drinking water – hopefully, and almost certainly not. But, there will undoubtedly be further testing that shows that there are, in fact, many more compounds in the DC area’s tap water than were listed in the AP report.
What most people do not realize is that the municipal water suppliers actually do a very good job of making tap water “potable” or drinkable. The problem lies in the fact that we only drink about 1% of all tap water produced, the rest goes to flush toilets, wash clothes and cars, take showers and water the yard. Unfortunately, those municipal supplies don’t know which one gallon out of 100 gallons you’re going to drink – so they make all 100 gallons acceptable.
DrinkMore Water’s purification technologies are focused on that one gallon of water (out of a hundred gallons) that we actually drink. We strive to make that one gallon as pure as possible – so that people can have peace of mind that their drinking water supply does not contain any pharmaceutical compounds and for that matter, DrinkMore Water does not contain any chlorine, fluoride, aluminum, barium, copper, or nitrates. No coliform or E-coli. In fact, our purification technology is so comprehensive that our water exceeds all the U.S. Pharmacopeia standards for “Purified Water” – something no tap water and no spring water could ever claim.
DrinkMore Water’s proprietary ten-stage purification system ensures that your drinking water supply is safe from contamination. Rest assured
First of all, I want to congratulate Seth Goldman – the founder of Honest Tea in Bethesda. Seth has done a superb job of growing his company over the past ten years and now, hopefully, is reaping the rewards after selling a minority interest in his company to Coke (announced yesterday).
I met Seth probably 8 years ago down at his old office and we talked about how DrinkMore Water might be able to help distribute his product to our water customers. I think we concluded that it was going to be a tough thing to do using our trucks (that are specially designed for delivering 5-gallon bottles). Anyway, he obviously figured the whole distribution thing out pretty well and I truly hope that the Coke investment doesn’t squash the entrepreneurial verve that got Seth to where he is right now – because that’s what it’s all about!
Seth has always been a leader in our community when it comes to the socially responsible form of entrepreneurship and business building and it just goes to show that you can do well by doing good. Congratulations Seth!!
If you watch TV or read the news, you just may think so. Couldn't be further from the truth. Purified Water is defined by the US Pharmacopeia as having less than 10 PPM (that's parts per million or milligrams/liter) of total dissolved solids (TDS). In order to achieve that level of purity, you have to use expensive purification technologies like reverse osmosis or distillation or deionization. There are very few municipalities that have invested in these kinds of technologies for two very simple reasons. First, it simply costs too much, and second, 99.5% of tap water is not being consumed by people - it's being used for all sorts of other valid purposes - like flushing your toilet, washing your clothes, showering, hosing off the driveway (that, by the way, is not a valid purpose in my book), washing dishes, etc.
Why spend tons of money to make better water when your dishes don't care, your toilet doesn't care, your shower doesn't care and your lawn doesn't care?
At DrinkMore Water, we have invested heavily in state-of-the-art reverse osmosis purification equipment because we're focused on the 1/2 of one percent of the water that people actually drink!! We start with the water that the municipal water suppliers call their final product!! We could use spring water, river water, rain water, frogwater - virtually any kind of water and end up at the same point - that's how good our process is. It's also a whole lot more environmentally friendly to use a municipal source that is piped right in to our plant (as opposed to say, spring water, which has to be trucked in using heavy duty tanker trucks). If society could take a step back in time and redesign its water supply systems - there would actually be two systems. One system would distribute very high quality water for drinking and cooking and the other system (using a completely separate set of pipes) would distribute much lower quality water for all of the other tasks.
So, back to the question - is purified water the same as tap water? The answer is most definitely no. I do not know of a single municipal tap water that meets the US Pharmacopeia definition for Purified Water. None. Our water not only meets the standard, we blow it away. Our water has 1 PPM of TDS. It is very, very pure.
Our process begins with municipal tap water in much the same way that paper begins from a tree or a steel beam begins from iron ore or cheese begins from milk or gasoline begins from crude oil. Paper is not a tree. Steel is not iron ore. Cheese is not milk. Gasoline is not crude oil. Purified water is not tap water. To suggest that it is, is simply ridiculous.
The real question is whether purified water is BETTER than tap water. That answer is simple. If you're talking about the purity of the water and you're talking about what you personally drink, then yes, purified water is BETTER than tap water. If you're talking about eliminating as many contaminants as you can from the water you drink, then, yes, purified water is BETTER than tap water. If you're talking about watering your yard, then there isn't a big enough difference to say that purified water is way better. Your lawn, plants and dishes probably don't care that much.
Now, all that being said, I think our local municipal water supplier - the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) - does an excellent job of providing tap water. The tap water MEETS all EPA regulations as far as I know. But again, only 1/2 of one percent of all of the water they treat goes into our collective mouths. They don't know which gallon (out of every 200) we'll drink, so they have to bring all 200 gallons up to meet EPA standards for tap water. Literally, the water you flush down the toilet is the exact same quality as the water you would drink. Same stuff. My personal preference is clearly to drink the BEST quality water, period. That would be purified water. That would be DrinkMore Water.
What about spring water? That's on tap for next time!!
Greetings from Waterworld -
After many conversations with my in-house marketing gurus, I've been convinced to start a blog. Here she blows. So, in this blog, I'll occasionally pontificate on various issues that are: 1) about water, 2) timely and 3) potentially interesting. My opinions.
Generally speaking, I think most people understand very little about water, and more specifically, the water they drink. As water issues have recently become more topical, it's kinda disappointing to me how those issues get reported upon in the press. Like just about everything else we read or watch, there are a lot of questionable conclusions. Everyone has their own angle - or at least an angle that they think is newsworthy - facts be damned.
Well, my job is to separate the wheat from the chaff, and believe me, there's a whole lotta chaff.
My credentials? Got a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Duke - on the way I did time in both the pre-med and biomedical engineering programs. Worked on offshore oil rigs for Schlumberger for a couple years. Harvard Business School. CFO for a small oil exploration company. A little investment banking. A lot of energy consulting work and investment banking work for independent power producers and cogeneration companies. Lots of equipment specification work.
I love water. Started DrinkMore Water in 1993 with one retail water store. Designed and installed virtually every piece of purification and bottling equipment in our facility. DrinkMore Water now manufactures and distributes water throughout the Washington/Baltimore greater metro areas. We have about 10,000 customers - homes and businesses alike. Our product is purified water. I think it is the best water on the market today - bar none - and believe me, I'll be telling you why I think that.
Feel free to post your comments.
