A recent study dated March 10 2009 was undertaken by M.Wagner and O. Ochlmann assessing the Endocrine disruptors in bottled mineral water. The study analyzed twenty commercially brands of available mineral water, nine bottled in glass and plastic each and two bottled in tetra pack in an in vitro system with the human estrogen receptor alpha and detected estrogenic contamination in 60% of all samples. The study also highlights potential endocrine disruption in humans from foodstuffs packaging. In order to optimize the properties of packaging materials a variety of additives such as stabilizers, antioxidants, coupling agents and pigments is used in the formulation. Especially additives from plastics (so-called plasticizers) are known to leach out off the packaging and consequently accumulate in edibles.

Snails (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) were used as a breeding model in each of the samples as they are specifically susceptible to hormones, which resulted in an increased reproductive output of snails cultured in plastic bottles. Their results demonstrate a widespread contamination of mineral water with xenoestrogens that partly originate from compounds leaching from the plastic packaging material. These substances possess the potent estrogenic activity in vivo in a snail. Overall, the results indicate that a broader range of food stuffs maybe contaminated with endocrine disruptors when packed in plastic. The study was not designed to evaluate whether the consumption of plastic packed nourishments comprehends the risk of endocrine disruptive effects in humans, it instead provides an insight into the potential exposure to EDCs from unexpected sources.

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