Recently, a Twitter meme about a German study on endocrine disrupting chemicals has been making the rounds with headlines like – “Bottled water found to contain over 24,000 chemicals, including EDCs.” While dramatic and scary sounding, these claims are not actually accurate. In fact, many of the Tweets and social media posts are misleading and false, such as those claiming that PET plastic bottled water bottles contain BPA.
So, what did this study’s data actually show?
- After reviewing the findings, it turns out that the authors had insufficient information to indicate ANY connection to bottled water, and that the concentrations found lacked scientific significance.
- In fact, the data seems to point to an environmental source of the EDCs rather than from the container itself.
- Finally, the EDCs were found in all types of containers – PET, glass, and cartons – which reinforce the position that the EDCs originated in the environment, not in the containers. This is an important point as BPA in particular is not found in ANY of the materials tested.
Want to learn the facts about the safety of bottled water containers? The International Bottled Water Association (which also runs this site) produced a great video on this important topic. And, you can read about container safety on the IBWA website.