Yesterday, the lobby group for the bottled water industry used untruths, misleading statements and claims that were outright wrong in its attempt to dispel a study by Environmental Working Group (EWG) that found harmful chemicals in a number of popular U.S. brands.

Ten popular U.S. bottled water brands contain mixtures of 38 different pollutants, including bacteria, fertilizer, Tylenol and industrial chemicals, some at levels no better than tap water, according to laboratory tests recently conducted by Environmental Working Group (EWG).

One of the nation’s biggest infant bottle water companies – Nursery Water - is misleading parents with erroneous information on its website and advertising materials touting the safety and benefits of fluoride in infant bottled water in clear violation of Federal Trade Commission rules, noted Environmental Working Group (EWG) scientists in a letter sent today to officials at the FDA and FTC.

Have you been counting down the days to the Live Earth concerts? We've been pretty quiet on the subject here at Enviroblog, but not because we don't care -- we've just been too busy keeping you in the loop about sunscreen, corporate greenwashing, and which water bottles are safest. The Big Day is getting close, though, and we're starting to feel that Live Earth vibe.

EWG is about to embark on a new study about bottled water--where it comes from, how it's "purified," and if it's even worth the expense. A big part of this project is just compiling the data, so we need your help to gather information from the labels of whatever bottled water you have at hand.

Quoted in an article for the Japan Times, Tony Clarke of the Polaris Institute articulates the cyclical risk of our obsession with bottled water: "The bottled-water industry's marketing of 'safe, clean water' undermines citizen's confidence in public water systems, and paves the way for the water companies to take over underfunded local utilities. In return, public willingness to pay premium prices for bottled water enables water-service corporations to establish a top-dollar price."