Your Favorite Sparkling Water Brands May Contain ‘Forever Chemicals’ — And There's More Bad News

Almost every kind of water has a certain concoction of chemicals lingering in it, whether tap or bottled. Usually, when this water travels through the treatment plant, the chemicals, if harmful, are pulled out. But there’s one group of chemicals that is notorious for sticking around for as long as 1,000 years before they start to degrade, per UNSW. Dubbed the “forever chemicals,” these chemicals resist death for nearly forever. Yet, their high threshold against water, oil, grease, and heat makes them attractive for human consumers who use them to create everything from non-stick cookware to stain-resistant fabrics to cans of bubbly sodas.

You might even find them lurking in those yoga pants, lipsticks, and takeaway noodle packs. But if this chemical were limited to just these externally usable things, it’d be harmless. Clothes and cosmetics are alright, but not food. Water, not at all. But it does. In 2020, Consumer Reports conducted a study on a variety of sparkling water brands and reported that many of them were contaminated with enormous quantities of these “forever chemicals,” a.k.a. “PFAS.” PFAS is an abbreviation for “per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances,” a group of chemicals that “are man-made for consumer products and have been used since the 1940s,” according to Health.

Over 15,000 PFAs exist on the planet today. While some of them have been banned, most are still in use among common household products and everyday essentials. The website explains that, like plastics, PFAs pose deadly risks to those who unknowingly consume them through air, water, or food. For instance, the chemical may trigger imbalances in cholesterol levels, digestive enzymes, and the functioning of the liver. From inflammation to thyroid disease, the list is endless. Not to mention how this chemical reduces the sperm count in a male and threatens the baby of a pregnant woman.

In the study, researchers tested 47 bottled waters, including 35 noncarbonated and 12 carbonated ones, to examine traces of heavy metals, including arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. Many of these carbonated waters showed signs of PFAs in high amounts. For instance, brands including “Perrier Natural Sparkling Mineral Water, La Croix Natural Sparkling Water, Canada Dry Lemon Lime Sparkling Seltzer Water, Poland Spring Zesty Lime Sparkling Water, Bubly Blackberry Sparkling Water, Polar Natural Seltzer Water, and Topo Chico Natural Mineral Water all had PFAS levels higher than 1 part per trillion,” according to the report.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) says that water is usually safe to drink only when it has a PFAs level less than 1 ppt. So, apparently, these numbers appearing in sparkling water are a surefire cause of concern. While the report didn’t mention what type of PFA was found in these bottled waters, many of them had amounts that exceeded an alarming 6 ppm, an absolute reason for worry.

Needless to say that one should avoid these sparkling water brands at all costs. Alternatively, one can opt for brands that offer sparkling water products with PFA levels less than 1 ppt. Health recommends Spindrift, Sanpellegrino, Dasani, and Schweppes. The crux is that no matter how attractive the advertising poster may seem, one should pay attention while selecting a sparkling water, because if it contains high PFA levels, no amount of boiling or water softening would work to squash the health risk.