Top bottled water brand sued over claims it contains toxic chemicals linked to cancer

Premium water brand Fiji is being sued over claims it misled customers about toxic chemicals in its bottled water.

The environmental advocacy group, the Plastic Pollution Coalition, has filed a complaint against the LA-based water brand, stating that lab tests revealed both microplastics and bisphenol-A (BPA) in its ‘natural’ bottled water products.

These undisclosed substances, the non-profit warns, have been linked to a range of health problems including cancer, fertility issues, autism, cardiovascular complications and ‘even death’. 

There is no publicly available research showing Fiji water contains microplastics and BPA. 

But the lawsuit points to several studies that found popular brands of bottled water sold in US is teeming with these toxic particles. 

Researchers at Columbia University previously found the average liter bottle of store-bought water contains over 240,000 nanoplastics.

DailyMail.com spoke to the lead authors of the study, who said the entire team reduced their bottled water consumption after uncovering the tiny particles.

The crux of Plastic Pollution Coalition lawsuit appears to take aim at the fact that Fiji water does not disclose the potential risk of consuming these ingredients and still markets itself as ‘preserved naturally from external elements’.

Along with ‘deceiving’ branding, the Plastic Pollution Coalition says that Fiji water – owned by The Wonderful Company – plays a major role in creating plastic pollution.

The bottled water company produces and exports more than half a billion lots of its product every year. 

But the Plastic Pollution Coalition says that ‘plastic is not designed to be recycled, and most plastic items, including plastic bottles that are collected for recycling, are never actually recycled’. 

It adds: ‘Instead, plastics collected for recycling are most often sent to landfills or incinerators, or are shipped overseas, perpetuating plastic production and its resultant plastic pollution, and environmental injustices.’

The Plastic Pollution Coalition is not seeking financial compensation and instead, it is requesting that claims made around Fiji water’s purity should be deemed unlawful under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which is designed to protect consumers and hold companies accountable. 

It is also looking to impose a permanent injunction against Fiji water to stop the ‘deceptive advertising and marketing at issue’.

The Plastic Pollution Coalition is being represented by Richman Law & Policy, a law firm which specializes in consumer protection law.

Commenting on the lawsuit, which will proceed through the District of Columbia’s legal system, Plastic Pollution Coalition co-founder Julia Cohen said: ‘Marketing bottled water in ways that portray it as healthy, safe, and sustainable is misleading to consumers, who are increasingly looking for products that are better for the environment and their health. 

‘While bottled water companies continue to tout their products as natural, the reality is that there is nothing natural about plastic.   

‘Plastic contaminates drinking water, the environment, and our bodies with hazardous microplastics and plastic chemicals.’

DailyMail.com has reached out to Fiji water for comment.  

One recent study found, no matter what the brand, bottles of plastic water contain hundreds of thousands of toxic microscopic plastic particles. 

Scientists using the most advanced laser scanning techniques found an average of 240,000 plastic particles in a one-liter bottle of water, compared to 5.5 per one liter of tap water.

Columbia University researchers tested three popular brands of bottled water sold in the US – and, using lasers, analyzed the plastic particles they contained down to just 100 nanometers in size.

The particles – nanoplastics – are much smaller than the microplastics previously detected in bottled water.

However, the particles are considered potentially toxic because they are so small that they can enter directly into blood cells and the brain.

These microscopic particles carry phthalates – chemicals that make plastics more durable, flexible, and lasting longer.

Phthalate exposure is attributed to 100,000 premature deaths in the US each year. The chemicals are known to interfere with hormone production in the body.

They are ‘linked with developmental, reproductive, brain, immune, and other problems’, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

The highest estimates found 370,000 particles.