Thirst for Knowledge: Factors to Consider in Selecting a Reusable Water Bottle

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2 Thirst for Knowledge: Factors to Consider in Selecting a Reusable Water Bottle William Shotyk Elmvale Foundation image courtesy of Massimo Bortolamiol

3 local water from the tap? or water in a plastic bottle, shipped halfway around the world???

4 OUTLINE º background º arctic ice archives of global atmospheric metal pollution º groundwaters in Springwater Township º bottled waters: Pros and Cons º reusable water bottles: Pros and Cons

5 REUSABLE WATER BOTTLES º plastic -Polycarbonate (BPA) -Polypropylene (Enviroclear) º stainless steel º SIGG bottles

6 BOTTLED WATER: FACTS AND MISCONCEPTIONS º health benefits? º chemical composition of the water? º contamination from packaging º direct environmental impacts º indirect environmental impacts º COSTS

7 BACKGROUND

8 City of Toronto, CANADA

9 University of Heidelberg GERMANY

10 Lab for Trace Inorganic and Isotopic Analyses, University of Heidelberg

11 APEX high efficiency nebulizer Dr. Michael Krachler sub-boiling distillation of acids Element2 Sector-field-ICP-MS

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13 1/22/2009 Dr. James Zheng

14 Ice Cores Archives of Environmental Change

15 natural concentration of lead (Pb) in Arctic snow and ice? FIVE PARTS PER TRILLION in ice between 4,000 and 8,000 years old..

16 what is a part per trillion? volume of water in Lake Huron: approximately three trillion litres adding one litre of water to Lake Huron, is like adding one part per trillion

17 SPRINGWATER TOWNSHIP

18 MEDIAN background Pb = 5 ng/l (Middle Holocene) median concentration Pb = 5 ng/l some samples Pb < 1 ng/l ie comparable to the lowest Pb concentrations ever measured..

19 elements currently determined in groundwaters

20 Enrichment Depletion Ag Al As Ba Be Ca Bi Cd Co Cr Cu Fe Ge Ga Li Mg Mo Mn Na Ni element P Rb S Sc Pb Sb Si Sr Te Th Ti Tl U V Zn Element Enrichments and Depletions in Groundwater (PARNELL) Relative to Snow enrichments and depletions expressed as log [(M/Sc)] groundwater /[(M/Sc)] snow

21 BOTTLED WATERS

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24 Ontario Nature, Summer 2008, p. 14

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27 Tony Clarke, Polaris Institute, Ottawa

28 Archives of Environmental Health (1989) March/April, Vol. 44, No. 2, pp brands of bottled mineral water tested. 24 had one or more determinands that were not in compliance with the drinking water standards in the U.S.

29 WHO has no scientific information on the health benefits or hazards of regularly consuming these types of bottled waters

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31 CONTAMINATION OF BOTTLED WATERS FROM LEACHING

32 Thirst for Knowledge: Factors to Consider in Selecting a Reusable Water Bottle Prof. Dr. William Shotyk Institute of Environmental Geochemistry University of Heidelberg, Germany

33 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

34 Almost all PET is manufactured using Sb 2 O 3, Antimony Trioxide PET bottles contain several hundred parts per million of Sb Sb, a potentially toxic trace metal, leaches into the water Bottled waters contain Sb at concentrations hundreds to thousands of times above natural levels Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

35 ANTIMONY (parts per trillion) Antimony (ng/l) ppt (2 parts per billion) Health Canada drinking water guideline for Sb 6 parts per billion Groundwater, Springwater Township, 2 ppt Measurements to date: 132 brands of bottled water from 28 countries

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37 (AUSTRALIA) (INDIA)

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39 LEAD (parts Pb (ng/l) per trillion) Contamination of Bottled Waters by Pb leaching from glass PET GLASS Lead (Pb) concentrations in bottled waters purchased in glass are comparable to tap water Replicate Bottles of Brand B Shotyk, W., and Krachler, M. (2007) Lead in bottled waters: comparison with pristine groundwaters and contamination from glass. Environmental Science and Technology (published on the web April 7, 2007).

40 VARIABLE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF BOTTLED WATERS

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42 URANIUM

43 LITHIUM

44 BERYLIUM

45 Of 15 brands of mineral water tested, 6 were ranked good Six were ranked only adequate and three inadequate, based on the concentrations of uranium and acetaldehyde K-Tipp, Nr. 10, May 21, 2008

46 Drinking water guideline for uranium 20 parts per billion Guideline for acetaldehyde is 15 parts per billion (beyond that it affects the taste of the water)

47 - occurs naturally in ripe fruit, coffee, and fresh bread - produced by plants as normal part of their metabolism - known as the chemical that causes hangovers acetaldehyde

48 Dr. Michael Kramer, Canadian Institutes of Health Research: We know what s in tap water. And depending on what the source of the bottled water is and what leaches from the plastic containers, I think we sometimes know less about what s in bottled water

49 DIRECT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF BOTTLED WATER

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51 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

52 INDIRECT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF BOTTLED WATER

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54 CARBON EMISSIONS -global climate change -acidfication of the oceans NITROGEN OXIDE EMISSIONS -acid rain -photochemical smog EMISSIONS OF PARTICULATE MATTER -PM10, PM 2.5 HEAVY METALS - Pt, Pd, Rh from catalytic converters -Pb from tire weights -Zn from tires -Sb from brake pads -etc etc

55 SUMMARY, BOTTLED WATER CONS -Expensive for us to buy, but cheap for bottling companies -Not healthier than tap water -Direct environmental impacts of groundwater removal -Indirect environmental impacts (fossil fuels for packaging and transportation = global climate change + acid rain + airborne particulate matter + heavy metals) -Variable chemical composition (e.g. natural variations in Li, U, and As in groundwaters) -Leaching of Sb from PET bottles -Leaching of Pb from glass bottles -Leaching of acetaldehyde from PET bottles Prince Edward Island, summer 2007

56 TAP WATER

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62 PAGE 1 OF 16

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64 PAGE 2 OF 9

65 REUSABLE BOTTLES

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69 POLYCARBONATE

70 Polycarbonate

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73 Chemical and Engineering News, American Chemical Society April 2, 2008

74 Chemical and Engineering News, American Chemical Society April 28, 2008

75 Chemical and Engineering News, American Chemical Society, June 2, 2008

76 Chemical and Engineering News, American Chemical Society, June 16, 2008

77 POLYPROPYLENE

78 Enviroclear bottles, Container Corporation, Richmond Hill Non-toxic (no BPA) Dishwasher safe Recyclable Polypropylene

79 Increasing Sb concentrations in groundwaters stored in PET plastic bottles 1000 PET Antimony (ng/l) / 0.4 ng/l (n=6) groundwater groundwater PP PETE Shotyk, W., and Krachler, M. (2007) Contamination of bottled waters with antimony leaching from PET increases with storage. Environmental Science and Technology 41:

80 STAINLESS STEEL

81 SIGG BOTTLES

82 RESULTS OF 13 DAY LEACH TEST, DEIONIZED WATER

83 Stainless steel Hip Flask Stainless steel, Brand 1, Made in China Stainless steel, Brand 2, Made in China SIGG Aluminum with proprietary liner Made in Switzerland Pewter Hip Flask (antimony-tin alloy) Made in Malaysia

84 Pb concentration, ng/l Pb 1 Control Sigg Steel 1 Steel 2 P Flask SS Flask

85 Sb concentration, ng/l 1e+5 1e+4 1e+3 1e+2 1e+1 1e+0 Sb 1e-1 Control Sigg Steel 1 Steel 2 P Flask SS Flask

86 Cr concentration, ng/l Cr 0.1 Control Sigg Steel 1 Steel 2 P Flask SS Flask

87 Air Canada, EnRoute, June 2008

88 SUMMARY Polypropylene -non-toxic (does not leach BPA or metals) -dishwasher safe -easily recycled -inexpensive

89 SUMMARY Stainless steel -non-toxic (leaching of metals extremely low) -robust -dishwasher safe -more expensive

90 SUMMARY SIGG -non-toxic (no leaching of metals) -no BPA -robust -dishwasher safe -more expensive

91 The 3 R s REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE more R s re-usable rinse re-fill refresh

92 Allenwood Beach, Springwater Township, Ontario

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