USA Today: High levels of arsenic in bottled water sold at Whole Foods, Target, Walmart, study says

Besides the fact that bottled water usually comes packaged in wasteful plastic, which is polluting our planet, bottled water itself may not be so safe for you to drink. In fact, high levels of arsenic have been found in two popular bottled water brands.

Center for Environmental Health, a California nonprofit, recently found that two bottled water brands contain high levels of arsenic. The water levels test higher than the levels in tap water, which violates California state guidelines. The law states that high arsenic levels can cause cancer and reproductive damage, as well as hormone disruption and organ damage, most notably in children. Because the bottled water violates the state levels, it must be labeled with a warning.

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The two brands are Starkey, owned by Whole Foods (and now Amazon) and Peñafiel, owned by Keurig Dr. Pepper. Michael Green, CEO of the organization, said in a statement:

“Customers typically purchase bottled water at exorbitantly high costs with the assumption that it is safer and healthier to drink than tap water, unaware that they are ingesting an extremely toxic metal linked to birth defects and cancer.”

The California report confirms a report earlier this year by Consumer Reports, which discovered that the two bottled water brands have close to double the federal limit of arsenic in the water.

Neither brand of water has been recalled by the FDA, but Keurig Dr. Pepper did stop production of Peñafiel for two weeks after the release of the initial Consumer Reports study. Peñafiel is currently sold at Walmart, Target, and other vendors, while Starkey is sold at Whole Foods. A Whole Foods spokesperson told USA TODAY:

“Beyond the required annual testing by an FDA certified lab, we have an accredited third-party lab test every production run of water before it is sold, and our test results from the same lot analyzed by Consumer Reports show that these products are fully compliant with FDA standards for heavy metals. We would never sell products that do not meet FDA requirements.”

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Consumer Reports also found potentially harmful levels of metals, including arsenic, in fruit juices earlier this year.

After California’s recent findings, Keurig Dr. Pepper announced it would pull the water voluntarily and offer refunds to consumers. At least that is a step in the right direction – the response by Whole Foods leaves several unanswered questions.