Tapping into Consumer Assumptions

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Rep. Al Wynn of Maryland and Rep. Hilda Solis of California have asked the Government Accountability Office to look into the bottled water industry. One concern is that the packaging of bottled water often uses images of mountain stream and other pristine natural settings, but as much as a third of bottled water comes from municipal water sources. While there are some added filtration steps in the processing, the product is much closer to tap water than consumers are led to believe. Dr. Gina Solomon, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council said "I think that consumers are under the misguided impression that bottled water is being carefully regulated and fully tested, and that it comes from whatever place is on the picture on the label. That's not the case." While the Environmental Protection Agency monitors tap water, it is the Food and Drug Administration that is in charge of bottled water. Unfortunately, the "FDA's standard of quality regulations for bottled water set allowable levels for more than 70 different chemical contaminants."