Frank
Baker
Professor
Kelly
English 120 (11:10-12:25)
24 October, 2012
Is Bottled Water Safe to Drink?
In Jane Kay’s article, “Some bottled
water toxicity shown to exceed law” several different bottled water companies were tested by Environmental
Working Group (EWG). The EWG found 10 different companies, with Wal-Mart being the focus,
exceed California's legal limits of chemicals in bottled water. The
limit is 10 parts per billion(ppb) in California, while the federal standard is 80
ppb, significantly higher than California. California has always been on the
forefront for environmental good. Though California may have good intentions, it seems
to drive business away with such strict policies. Wal-Mart claims "We're puzzled by the
EWG's findings." It seems EWG was overzealous in finding something wrong with bottled
water, but Wal-Mart does have a reputation for putting the environment aside for profits. Wal-Mart
tests do not show any reportable amount of harmful materials; if they did the
water could not be sold. I believe that the California standards are too high as they exceed the federal requirements by 8-fold. There should be some kind of compromise where they can meet somewhere in the middle. My concern is that these high standards will drive businesses away from California, when we really need to keep businesses here and bring other companies to California.
Yeah, I agree with you on this one. If the water is safe to drink in Oregon it's probably not getting any more dangerous if you cross the border into California. I wish the site had told us if there were any health risks associated with 14-17 ppb of chlorine, but I really doubt it's anything noticeable so this seems to me like it's kind of an arbitrary standard the state is setting.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both but what is wrong with having higher standards? Wal-Mart and other mega businesses have made a lot of money coming to California. If they were to find anything is the water that conflicted with California's law then they would fix it because they are all about money.If they stopped selling then they would loose, if even, millions of dollars and they won't do that. Another thing is that if California has set laws then it should be for a good reason because if it was just for money, then it would've been as slack as everyone else.
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