Arsenic in Some Bottled Water Brands at Unsafe Levels, Consumer Reports Says. By Ryan Felton*. consumerreports.org. April 18, 2019. Keurig Dr Pepper suspends production of its Peñafiel brand, as CR urges a full recall and tougher federal standards. What you need to know. Natural foods grocery chain Whole Foods introduced its new brand of bottled water at a 2015 investor event, where company executives heralded the product’s purity and healthfulness.

PHOTO: NIGEL COX“It naturally flows out of the ground,” chief operating officer A.C. Gallo said about the company’s spring in Council, Idaho, according to a published transcript on its website. “We built, actually, a spring house over it so we can let the water go down to the bottling plant. It’s amazingly pristine water.”
Yet from late 2016 to early 2017, Starkey Water—the name of Whole Foods’ brand—recalled more than 2,000 cases of water after tests by regulators showed an impermissible level of arsenic beyond the federally mandated threshold of 10 parts per billion. A year later, Whole Foods’ internal testing showed results that were just under the federal limit but still at levels that pose risks if regularly consumed, according to growing research and independent experts, including Consumer Reports’ scientists.
Over the past few years, as consumers have worried more about the quality of municipal tap water, bottled water has surged in popularity. It’s now the nation’s best-selling bottled beverage, according to the International Bottled Water Association. But a CR investigation has found that in some cases bottled water on store shelves contains more potentially harmful arsenic than tap water flowing into some homes.
“It makes no sense that consumers can purchase bottled water that is less safe than tap water,” says James Dickerson, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at Consumer Reports. “If anything, bottled water—a product for which people pay a premium, often because they assume it’s safer—should be regulated at least as strictly as tap water.”
For this report, CR tracked down and reviewed hundreds of public records and test reports from bottled water brands, and from various federal and state regulators. We found that several popular brands sell bottled water with arsenic levels at or above 3 ppb; current research suggests that amounts above that level are potentially dangerous to drink over extended periods of time. CR believes the federal limit for bottled water should be revised to 3 ppb from the current federal standard of 10 ppb.
In total, CR identified 11 brands out of more than 130 that either self-reported or, based on tests we commissioned, had detectable amounts of arsenic. Of those, six had levels of 3 ppb or higher. These brands are Starkey (owned by Whole Foods), Peñafiel (owned by Keurig Dr Pepper), Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water, Volvic (owned by Danone), and two regional brands, Crystal Creamery and EartH₂O.
As part of our investigation, CR also was able to purchase two brands of imported water—Jermuk from Armenia and Peñafiel from Mexico—that are on an import alert issued by the federal government for previously having arsenic levels above the federal limit of 10 ppb. Such an alert is meant to “prevent potentially violative products from being distributed in the United States,” according to the Food and Drug Administration. Even so, CR easily purchased the two brands in retail stores in two states and on Amazon.
A spokesperson for the FDA, which regulates bottled water, wouldn’t comment directly on the availability of the products but said that the agency takes the issue of heavy metals “seriously” and that if a product on the market is deemed “adulterated,” the agency will take “appropriate action.”
Beverage giant Keurig Dr Pepper provided CR in March with Peñafiel’s bottled water quality report for 2018, which stated that the water had nondetectable amounts of arsenic. But the company said this week that it had conducted new testing, because of CR’s questions, and confirmed levels above the federal limit, at an average of 17 ppb.
Keurig Dr Pepper said Monday that it had suspended bottled water production for two weeks at its Mexico facility that makes Peñafiel for export to the U.S. It plans to improve filtration at the plant to lower arsenic levels, the company told CR. For its latest internal testing, the company said it used a different protocol and consulted the FDA. A recall isn’t planned, Peñafiel said, but CR believes one should be issued.
“An arsenic level of 17 ppb is a clear violation of the federal bottled water standard of 10 ppb,” says Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at CR. “Keurig Dr Pepper should recall all Peñafiel water currently on the market that may contain these violative levels. If they do not act, the FDA should mandate a recall.”
Companies Can Remove ArsenicArsenic is a naturally occurring heavy metal that can cause disease and also affect child development. It can be found in natural water supplies, depending on the geology of the area. There are also water sources that don’t contain the heavy metal. Companies can test for it and also use certain treatment processes to remove it from water.
“With bottled water, why should you have arsenic in the water?” says Ana Navas-Acien, M.D., Ph.D., professor of environmental health sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York City. “There should be plenty of opportunities for treatment and remediation.”
Bottled water manufacturers promote their product as a pure, healthy alternative to sugar-loaded sodas, and the industry’s sales have been on a continuous climb for years, thanks in part to skittish consumers uneasy about the quality of water from their taps after a highly publicized water quality scandal in Flint, Mich., in 2015.
To be sure, CR also found dozens of bottled water brands that reported nondetectable levels of arsenic. And drinking a single glass of water with 3 ppb of arsenic probably will not harm you, says Dickerson at CR. But regular consumption over extended periods increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, can lower IQ scores in children, and can cause certain cancers and other health problems, he says.
CR’s investigation—which focused only on arsenic levels—shows that, unlike tap water, bottled water is regulated in a hodgepodge fashion. Moreover, some states have inconsistent arsenic guidelines in place for tap and bottled water, with stricter thresholds in place for tap than for bottled water. And public records on bottled water quality are also difficult to access, CR found, with some states destroying company testing reports after a year and other states not collecting them at all.
The FDA set the federal threshold for arsenic in drinking water at 10 ppb in 2006, in line with the standard for drinking water set by the Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates tap water. But New Jersey says the level for tap water should be half that. New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection says that water with arsenic above 5 ppb shouldn’t be used for “drinking, cooking, mixing baby formula, or in other consumptive ways.” However, the state’s bottled water arsenic limit is still 10 ppb, in keeping with the federal standard. New Hampshire is considering a similar standard, but also for tap water only.
CR says the limit for arsenic in bottled water should be revised from 10 ppb to 3 ppb, the same threshold CR recently proposed for apple, grape, and other juices. Recent CR testing detected the heavy metal in some juices at levels posing potential health risks.
Spot Testing 3 BrandsFor this report, CR decided to commission its own independent spot tests for three brands that the FDA had previously flagged for elevated arsenic levels—the Starkey Whole Foods brand, and also Peñafiel (owned by Keurig Dr Pepper) and Jermuk.
The test results show that Whole Foods’ bottled water still has levels of arsenic that approach or exceed the legal federal limit: Three samples tested this month ranged from 9.48 to 9.86 ppb of arsenic; a fourth registered 10.1 ppb, just above the federal limit of 10 ppb. The tested bottles of water were purchased in March at retail locations.
In a statement Tuesday, Whole Foods said it had recently conducted an analysis on Starkey samples from the same lot used in the tests that CR commissioned. The company said the tests “show these products are fully compliant with FDA standards for heavy metals.” The company also said it tests "every production run of water before it is sold." 
“We would never sell products that do not meet FDA requirements,” the company’s statement said.
At the same time, the Jermuk samples we tested revealed dramatically lower arsenic levels than a government test result indicated in 2009. The result of that earlier test prompted the import alert that remains in effect. CR’s recent test of Jermuk water shows three tested samples averaging about 1.31 ppb, well below the federal threshold and down from the more than 450 ppb the government found in 2009. (The company bottles water at a single plant in Armenia, according to its website. Jermuk didn’t respond to requests for comment.)
All three Peñafiel samples CR tested, however, found arsenic levels well above the 10 ppb limit, registering an average of 18.1 ppb.
Katie Gilroy, spokesperson for Keurig Dr Pepper, says the new internal tests of Peñafiel were conducted after CR’s inquiries, revealing “somewhat elevated levels” consistent with our testing results at about 17 ppb.
“Because the health and safety of our consumers is our top priority, as soon as we received the test results, we took immediate action by stopping production at the Mexico facility in question, working with outside experts, and consulting with the FDA, which is supportive of our action plan,” Gilroy says. (An FDA spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment on this subject in time for publication.)
“The independent experts with whom we are working have indicated that there is no health or safety risk to consumers at the current levels, and we have begun remedying the situation by enhancing the filtration system in the plant, which we expect to take two weeks,” Gilroy said. “At that point, we will resume production.”
Gilroy says tests were conducted on products for sale in the U.S. market, “which come from one production location in Mexico.” 
The International Bottled Water Association says that any product that doesn’t meet the FDA’s 10 ppb standard for arsenic “should not be allowed to be sold.”
“As with other food products, bottled water that does not meet all applicable laws and regulations is subject to FDA enforcement actions, including recalls, warning letters, and product seizures,” the IBWA says. “This helps ensure that adulterated or mislabeled products do not reach consumers.”America’s Favorite Bottled DrinkThe popularity of bottled water can’t be overstated: Consumers nowadays have hundreds of brands to choose from—some carrying celebrity endorsements; others touting big, sometimes vague, health claims. But even as water has become the nation’s most popular bottled beverage, CR’s investigation also found that the regulatory regime meant to protect consumers is inadequate. 
The federal government’s safety inspections of water bottling facilities hit a 15-year low in 2017, according to documents CR obtained through a public records request. In 2010, the FDA conducted 371 inspections; by 2017, that number fell to 209. These inspections include verifying that companies have test results on file for their products.
But records show that some companies have been issued violations by the FDA and state agencies for lacking legally required test data. The companies were required to correct the violations by a later date, records show. The FDA doesn’t conduct tests on individualized finished bottled water during these inspections, a spokesperson said, and relies on companies to produce their own results. (Imported water could be tested during routine border testing at ports of entry, however, the spokesperson said.)
That could be an unsettling reality for some consumers, especially those in cities that have turned to bottled water because of unsafe tap water, such as Flint, Mich., which continues to deal with the effects of a lead-in-water scandal that began in 2015.
“This is a huge, multibillion-dollar industry selling a product that is viewed by many consumers as safer than tap water,” says Erik Olson, senior director of health and food at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which published a four-year bottled water study in 1999. He says that “meaningful oversight of this extremely profitable business” is needed and that consumers should be able to easily get test results online.
Years after Flint’s lead contamination first became known, donations of bottled water continue to flow into the city. At the same time, perhaps in response to quality concerns that Flint’s crisis sparked elsewhere, sales of bottled water nationally have risen 19 percent, to $18.5 billion in 2018, according to the IBWA.
“These companies make a mint on basically something that’s a free resource,” says David Carpenter, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the State University of New York at Albany. “So there’s no reason that they can’t find a water source that is either very, very low in arsenic, or do the treatment themselves.”
Looking for Arsenic AnswersA key problem, CR found, is that the industry and the government haven’t made it easy for the public to obtain information on bottled water quality.
For one thing, a public repository of bottled water quality information currently doesn’t exist.
Few states regularly conduct independent tests on bottled water for contaminants, as municipalities must for tap water. Many states, however, require bottled water companies to submit the results of their own testing to sell products. But CR found that information can be hard to come by.
In California, for example, CR filed a public records request for all test reports submitted to the state by bottled water manufacturers, as required under a 2009 state law. Because the state discards these records once a company is deemed in compliance, the best it could do was to provide CR with a list of companies licensed to bottle water. The state recommended that we contact the companies for their reports.
So we did. Ultimately, using the California list and other sources, we obtained reports representing more than 130 bottled water brands across the country, either through company websites or in response to queries sent to them. We also reviewed public records and independent studies that have analyzed bottled water.
Overall, beyond our tests that revealed Peñafiel, owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, had levels of arsenic in excess of the federal standard, five companies self-reported levels at or above CR’s recommended cutoff of 3 ppb. In addition to Starkey (8 ppb), that included two other national brands—Crystal Geyser (3.8 ppb for water bottled at its facility in Olancha, Calif.) and Volvic (4 ppb). EartH₂O (3 ppb), a firm based in Oregon, reported 3 ppb.
Crystal Creamery, based in California, reported in 2017 that its water contained 5 ppb of arsenic. The California Department of Health says the company’s license to sell bottled water expired in June 2018. Some consumers, however, may still have the product on their shelves.
Two more brands, Aguavida, a regional brand in California, and Badoit, a mineral water owned by Danone, fell shy of CR’s cutoff, reporting 2 ppb, a level researchers say is associated with health issues such as high blood pressure and circulatory problems.
Two leading national brands—Fiji and Niagara Bottling (for its spring water)—reported 1 ppb of arsenic on average in their most recently available reports. Another, Poland Spring, reported nondetectable levels below 2 ppb.
CR contacted the companies that reported detectable amounts, and of those that responded, most said that they adhered to government standards and that arsenic can be naturally occuring. Crystal Creamery and Crystal Geyser did not respond to a CR request for comment.
“Volvic Natural Spring Water is naturally filtered as it slowly trickles down through hundreds of layers or porous puzzolana sand, basalt, and lava stone,” said Alessandra Simkin, senior manager of external communications at Danone, which owns Volvic, in a statement. “As the water filters through these different volcanic layers, it absorbs natural minerals, where arsenic naturally occurs. The level in Volvic is 4 ppb, well below the FDA arsenic maximum level. Volvic is safe and in full compliance with all applicable federal, state, and industry bottled water standards.”
Austin Bouck, plant manager at EartH₂O, said in an email, “As a responsible producer of bottled water, we continue to listen to the public health experts at the FDA and EPA to help us ensure we produce a safe, wholesome product, just as we did in 2000 when the arsenic limits were last evaluated.”
“We always encourage those agencies to make decisions that are in the best interest of public health and consumer choice, and will continue to re-evaluate our water source as new benchmarks and standards are established,” Bouck said.
Separately, independent studies have tested other brands and found arsenic: A 2011 study conducted by the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner/Weights & Measures found that grocery chain Trader Joe’s bottled water had 3.48 ppb of arsenic. Trader Joe’s didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment on the study’s findings.
How Much Arsenic Is Too Much?Arsenic—found naturally in soil, minerals, air, and plants—enters water by way of eroding rocks and minerals, urban runoff, pesticides, and municipal waste disposal. Because it’s ubiquitous, it can also get into the foods and drinks we consume. In fact, CR has recently found worrisome levels of arsenic in juices and baby foods.
For many years, the upper limit for arsenic in drinking water was set at 50 ppb. But in 2001, the EPA responded to rising concerns about the heavy metal’s health risks by lowering that level, initially suggesting 3 ppb as a “feasible” cutoff. The agency eventually settled on 10 ppb because it “maximizes health risk reduction benefits at a cost that is justified by the benefits.”
Growing research, however, suggests that the health risks of arsenic exposure emerge at levels below 10 ppb, especially in children, says Joseph Graziano, Ph.D., a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and professor of pharmacology at Columbia’s medical school. For example, a 2014 study he co-authored found that an arsenic level of 5 ppb or greater in a child’s household water supply was associated with a 5- to 6-point reduction in IQ compared with those whose exposure to arsenic levels was below 5 ppb.
Regular exposure to small amounts of arsenic can also harm adults. A 2017 study published in the journal Environmental Research found a relationship between exposure to arsenic levels starting around 2 ppb and prostate cancer among men in Iowa, prompting the authors to suggest that the 10 ppb arsenic limit may “not be protective for human health.”
And public health officials in New Hampshire, in explaining their pending proposal to lower the state’s cutoff for arsenic in tap water, cited research that potentially identified health problems that appear at levels below 10 ppb, including “lung, bladder and skin cancer; cardiovascular disease; adverse birth outcomes; illnesses in infants; and reduced IQ.”
In fact, the EPA itself sets its “maximum contaminant level goal” for arsenic in water—the level below which there is no known or expected risk to health—at zero.
Experts acknowledge that reaching that goal may not be practical, especially for municipal water supplies, because the cost of purification could be prohibitive.
But Navas-Acien at Columbia says that consumers often purchase bottled water because they believe it’s a safe product.
“The standard [for arsenic] needs to be stronger for bottled water, as compared to just regular old tap water,” she says.
And the FDA does have a history of enforcing stricter standards: The agency requires bottled water companies to keep lead levels below 5 ppb, but the EPA allows tap water to contain up to 15 ppb of that heavy metal.