Antimony in bottled water a potent threat.

January 28, 2007

Science News – January 24, 2007 Storage time increases antimony in bottled water Some plastic bottles leach more of the trace element than others. http://pubs.acs.org//journals/esthag-w/2007/jan/science/kc_antimony.html The longer a bottle of water sits on a store shelf or in a household pantry, the higher the dose of antimony the person who drinks it will receive, some new experiments show. In research published today on ES & T’s Research ASAP website (DOI: 10.10201/es061511+), scientists find that the leached

amounts can vary significantly, depending on the bottled water brand. Still, the amounts being measured are well below drinking water standards, except for two that were at or above Japan’s maximum allowable level of 2 parts per billion (ppb)—the lowest standard for antimony worldwide. Rhonda Saunders The amount of antimony in bottled water varies considerably from bottle to bottle. Last year, researchers at the University of Heidelberg Institute of Environmental Geochemistry (Germany) measured the abundance of this potentially toxic trace element in 15 brands of Canadian bottled water and 48 European brands. They reported concentrations of more than 100 times the average level of antimony in pristine groundwaters, which is 2 parts per trillion. After letting the same bottles sit at room temperature for 6 months, the researchers found that average antimony concentrations in the Canadian bottled waters increased by 19%, and by 90% in the European brands. Different samples of some of the same brands showed fairly consistent antimony leaching rates. In one case, however, a brand bottled in France but purchased in Hong Kong yielded significantly higher concentrations of antimony than the same brand purchased in Germany. Most of the waters tested were packaged in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers. “We really have no idea why these different PET bottles have different reactivities,” says Bill Shotyk, the lead author of the study. Antimony trioxide is used as a catalyst in the manufacture of PET.

Shotyk suspects that elevated temperatures, different water pHs, and possibly exposure to sunlight could be playing a role in the varying leach rates. What’s clear, he says, is that water bottled in PET contains much more antimony than regular tap water. What isn’t clear is the implications for human health. “It’s an emerging contaminant, and one ought to take a closer look at it,” says Annette Johnson from the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. Antimony is a suspected carcinogen, “but there’s no proof of this,” she cautions. Additionally, exposure through drinking water may not turn out to be the primary source, particularly in cities, because antimony is used in such a wide range of products. “One of the most direct uptake possibilities is dust, where you have very elevated antimony levels because of brake pad erosion,” Johnson notes. Mike Neal, chairman

of the PET Health, Safety, and Environment Committee of Plastics Europe, stresses that antimony trioxide underwent extensive toxicological testing before its use was allowed in food and beverage packaging. Moreover, in 2005, the European Food Safety Authority increased the migration limits of antimony from plastic materials into foodstuffs from 10 to 40 ppb. Questions still linger though over antimony’s potential carcinogenicity, which is why it was placed on a list for further study by the U.S. National Toxicology Program. —KRIS CHRISTEN"When we were kids our parents taught us not to lie. But today our Health Minister is trying to punish those who dare to speak the truth. God help that unfortunate fellow. It seems he has not received any education at home." - An Indian Monk.

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