No, Evian water does not contain pfas but it does contain contaminated toxic fungicide.
The newspaper SonntagsZeitung says that Swiss scientists have found traces of the banned pesticide chlorothalonil in Evian mineral water.
The French multinational company Danone is the owner of Evian mineral water. The water comes from a few places near Évian-Les-Bains, on the south side of Lake Geneva.
Co-author of the Eawag study Juliane Hollender said that the amount of chlorothalonil in Evian is “about the same as in Lake Zurich.”
In the 1970s, Switzerland’s Federal Office for Agriculture said that chlorothalonil could be used. The active ingredient protected cereal, vegetable, vine, and ornamental plants from fungal attacks.
Based on new research, the Swiss government reclassified chlorothalonil as “probably carcinogenic” and banned its use starting in January 2020.
In Switzerland, two popular ideas about drinking water are still in the works.
The Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) found that each liter of Evian water had six nanograms of the banned pesticide.
The concentration is well below the legal limits and is not harmful to health, but the finding is important because Evian water, which comes straight from the heart of the Alps, is thought to be so pure that scientists use it to calibrate their measuring tools.
“The fact that even the Evian springs in the French Alps, which aren’t used much by people, have pesticide residues is alarming and shows how carelessly these chemicals are handled,” Roman Wiget, president of the international drinking water association AWBRE, told a Swiss weekly in German.
The best way to get rid of pesticides in drinking water is to get rid of the thing that put them there in the first place. Even though the EU and Switzerland are still finding fungicides in drinking water, it is likely to go down a lot as use stops. However, the fact that it lasts for so long shows how dangerous it is to put a toxic product on the market. Switzerland could take even more steps because it is currently debating a ban on pesticide use across the country.
In the United States, you can reduce the number of pesticides that get into your drinking water by pushing for local and state policies that change how pesticides are used.
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Where is Evian Water From?
All Evian products are made with natural mineral water from the French Alps. This way, you can enjoy the cool, crisp taste of Evian anywhere, anytime. The French Alps made Evian water naturally refreshing, and the rest of the world made it a cultural symbol.
Is Evian Water Safe?
The FDA Quality Standards establish the maximum permitted quantities of more than 80 contaminants in bottled water. Evian Natural Spring Water meets all federal, state, and industry bottled water criteria.