Monday Moaning

The moment of truth has arrived…

One in five French bottled waters ‘contain drugs or pesticides’

Researchers analysed 47 widely available brands, and discovered 10 were contaminated with miniscule amounts

Traces of pesticides and prescription drugs have been found in some brands of bottled water in France. Photograph: Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images

They are sold as being cleaner, healthier and purer than the water that spouts from the average French tap.

Now, however, an investigation has discovered traces of pesticides and prescription drugs – including a medicine used to treat breast cancer – in almost one in five brands of bottled water on the shelves of France’s supermarkets.

While scientists insist the contamination is minuscule and the water remains safe, consumer groups are warning of a “potential cocktail effect” for drinkers, and say the findings raise serious environmental concerns.

The study was carried out by the consumer magazine 60 Millions de Consommateurs and the non-governmental organisation specialising in global water issues, Fondation France Libertés.

Researchers analysed 47 brands of bottled water widely available in French shops, and discovered that 10 contained “residues from drugs or pesticides”.

“The biggest surprise was the presence of tamoxifen, a synthetic hormone used in the treatment of breast cancer,” wrote the magazine. It reported finding traces of the powerful prescription drug in the popular brands Mont Roucous, St-Yorre, Salvetat, Saint Armand and the Carrefour discount label Céline Cristaline.

It added that the quantity was minute but “enough for us to question the purity of the original produce imposed by regulations covering mineral water”.

Traces of the prescription drugs buflomedil and naftidrofuryl, known as vasodilators and used to dilate arteries in those suffering from high blood pressure, were found in Hepar and Saint Armand mineral waters.

Molecules from pesticides banned in 2001 were found in bottles of Vittel, Volvic, Cora and Cristaline.

After the mineral water companies contested the results, the magazine commissioned a second round of tests, which confirmed the first results.

“It’s true the micropollutants found were present in very small quantities, but the range of them raises concerns about a potential cocktail effect,” 60 Millions de Consommateurs reported.

“This is serious enough to call for a much bigger study,” it added, calling for tighter controls on bottled waters to identify what it called “new pollutants”.

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Opinion:

Well, it looks like we’ve done it!

If this is true in France, then it stands to reason that it’s true for much of the world.

The question remains, how long now before the ‘micropollutants’ become a serious health hazard in doses that require medical supervision?

The world is in deep shit!

Because once we have put these pollutants in the water, we can’t take them out!

We, as a race, are doomed now to drinking toxic cocktails, that are becoming more lethal with time. Because as sure as the process has started, we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

From this report, one can only assume that there are no truly unpolluted water resources left.

The air, the water, the sea and the land are all poisoned.

Our irresponsibility and stupidity know no bounds.