What's in bottled water and why isn't it regulated?

Benzene gets a bad rap, and for good reason. It is a known carcinogen, and it causes serious problems when it gets into the air or the water. Such is the case for the residents of Dish, Texas, who live near a natural gas refinery located there. According to the 5/16/10 edition of the Star-Telegram, benzene became a concern in January when a state agency revealed that a natural gas well site operated by Devon Energy near Dish showed a benzene level of 15,000 parts per billion.

So far, biological samples taken from 28 residents of Dish have determined that levels of benzene in their blood were no higher than that of the overall US population. However, there are other sources of benzene that the greater population should be worried about.

"Tapped," a documentary released in 2009, took a long hard look at water privatization—in particular, the bottled water industry and some of its primary purveyors, Nestle, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Co-directors Stephanie Soechtig and Jason Lindsey wanted to make the point that the bottled water industry largely operates outside the control of regulatory agencies, which oversee the nation's food supply and other natural resources.

Link:
http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/14162/benzene-carcinogen-benzoic-acid-todd-molis.html