The water in plastic bottles is much worse than tap water, for the environment and for health.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himThat thebottled water It is well known that it has a greater environmental impact than that of the tap, but have you ever wondered how much higher it is impact?
A group of researchers did this and the result of their research is astonishing. Prefer water in plastic bottles causes 3.500 times more environmental damage than the tap water option.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers evaluated the entire life cycle of bottled water and municipal water and estimated the possible damage to resources and ecosystems and the consequent indirect impact on health human of the two choices.
The researchers focused on the city of Barcelona, where nearly 60% of the inhabitants (around 1,35 million people) consume bottled water. The team took into account that the major environmental impact bottled water is linked precisely to the bottle itself and to the energy required for its production and disposal.
According to the results of the study, if all the inhabitants of Barcelona decided to drink bottled water, the production would result in 1,43 species lost per year and it would cost 83,9 million dollars per year to extract the raw materials. . A 1.400 times greater impact on ecosystems and a cost of extracting resources 3.500 times higher compared to choosing to consume bottled water.
Unfortunately, the consumption of bottled water it has increased significantly in recent years around the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries. L'packaged water it is often perceived as better, both in relation to safety and taste. This could be due to the marketing campaigns of bottled water producers and a general lack of trust in tap water.
Read also: Comparing mineral waters: natural or sparkling, these are the best and worst brands according to Altroconsumo
Yet the tap water quality it is almost always excellent and in recent years it has also improved. In addition, the taste of tap water is not pleasant or if you have doubts about its safety, there are various domestic systems, even economic ones, to filter or purify it.
Then there is another aspect to take into consideration: even if the quality of tap water were slightly lower than that in the bottle, the impact on health associated with its consumption would still be lower. This is because i damage to health they do not depend only on the introduction of a substance into the body, but also on the conditions of the environment in which we live.
Simply put, producing and consuming bottled water pollutes the environment and harms ecosystems with worse consequences for ours health than we might get from drinking tap water.
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Sources of reference: Science of The Total Environment
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- Even the "purest" Evian water is contaminated with banned pesticide residues, the study
- Microplastics in water bottles: all brands involved
