Since the American Council on Science and Health often examines health scares, we were glad to see the sensible editorial in last week's British Medical Journal that evaluates how bottled water exploits the public's fears about what affects health (Petrie KJ, Wessely S. Getting well from water. British Medical Journal, 329:1417-1418).
The editorial addresses the marketing of and demand for bottled water as a "health product." "Bottled water is seen as a natural antidote to what the consumer sees wrong with modernity and bad for their health -- chemicals and technologies full of risk and hazard, genetically engineered food, low level radiation, harmful medications, and sinister viruses," the authors claim.
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The editorial states that the popularity of the product has grown tremendously, at least partially due to the portrayal of bottled water as more pure and unspoiled than tap water. Such marketing, they claim, exploits people's unfounded worries that tap water, even in developed countries, is somehow unsafe. This fuels their willingness to spend significantly more money on a product that has no added benefits. The editorial also points out that the public's irrational fear of water that has been "tampered with" can stimulate opposition to measures that improve the safety and healthfulness of water, such as adding fluoride and chlorine to water.
Rivka Weiser is a research intern at the American Council on Science and Health.