An environmental group has threatened to sue Wal-Mark for selling bottled water that contained toxic chemicals, it was reported on Wednesday.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit organization, tested 10 brands of bottled water and found that Wal-Mart's Sam's Choice contained chemical levels that exceeded legal limits in California and the voluntary standards adopted by the industry, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The tests discovered an average of eight contaminants in each brand, and four brands besides Wal-Mart's also were contaminated with bacteria, said the paper.
The environmental group filed a notice of intent to sue Wal-Mart Tuesday, alleging that the mega-chain failed to warn the public of illegal concentrations of trihalomethanes, which are cancer-causing chemicals.
"The investigation has uncovered that consumers cannot be assured of the quality of their bottled water," said Olga Naidenko,a toxicologist at the Environmental Working Group and lead author of the bottled-water study.
"Our study was a snapshot of the marketplace. We found some brands that provided good quality and other brands that contained various chemical pollutants. What this shows is that consumers cannot have confidence. They don't know what they're getting," she said.
The group also singled out Giant Supermarket's brand Acadia for excessive levels of disinfection byproducts, but it didn't sue because the Mid-Atlantic chain's water isn't sold in California.
The group found that some of the Sam's Choice bottled water came from Las Vegas Valley Water District's sometimes-chlorinated public water supply, the report said.
The bottled water was purchased from Wal-Marts in two cities near San Francisco -- Mountain View and Oakland, according to the report.
Shannon Frederick, senior communications manager at Wal-Mart's corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, said the corporation stands by its product. Wal-Mart owns 4,200 stores in the United States.
"Both our suppliers' tests and tests from an additional external laboratory are not showing any reportable amounts of chlorine or chlorine byproducts. We're disappointed that the EWG has not shared more details with us as we continue to investigate this matter," Frederick said.
Source: Xinhua
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