The online journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research published an article earlier this month detailing research involving growing snails with bottled water.

German researchers Martin Wagner and Jörg Oehlmann were wondering how active the false estrogens are that are found in bottled water.

First they tested 20 different brands of mineral commonly for sale in Germany, using yeast modified to contain a human estrogen receptor. They found significant functional estrogen levels (presumably leaching from the plastic bottles) in 60 percent of the packages tested. The estrogen levels were most significant in the plastic water bottles, but also found in glass bottles and in cardboard cartons with plastic liners.

Does the estrogen actually stimulate reproduction? They rinsed polycarbonate plastic and glass bottles, added water and snails, and waited.  After a period of time, the snails housed in the plastic bottles generated significantly more baby snails than the ones in the glass bottles. This suggests that the plastic packaging is a source of active estrogen hormones.

Moral of the story:  avoid bottled water and get a home water filter!