5 posts tagged “tap water”

Researchers have found 64 different residual medications in our drinking water. Now National Lampoon has uncovered the new marketing campaign to promote Water in light of its new ingredients.

Most people believe that having fluoride added to the public water system will help prevent tooth decay, and in fact many Dentists and other health professionals believe this as well. This is simply another lie that has been repeated for decades and meanwhile, someone is profiting from the outcome of it. I would like to quote my mentor, Paul Pitchford, from his book Healing With Whole Foods:

Fluoridation of drinking water is one of the most insidious practices in America. Even if fluoride were not a controversial chemical, should everyone receive some people's medicine? Perhaps in the future tranquilizers and mood alterants will be put into community water. Is drugging an unstated motivation behind fluoridation? Fluorite, a naturally occurring compound of calcium and fluoride, is already used as a formidable tranquilizer in traditional Chinese medicine; and Prozac (Fluoxetine Hydrochloride) a modern antidepressant, is based on the fluoride molecule. Judging from the intensity of the battles that rage, and the tremendous pro-fluoride support coming from some factions in the government, there must be something behind fluoridation besides merely promoting healthy teeth, otherwise local and federal governments could easily advocate free fluoride pills for children whose parents consented (it is presumed that the teeth of children benefit most from fluoride). This would cost less than city-wide water-treatment installations.

Originally, decay-prevention tests with fluoride were carried out with calcium fluoride, yet sodium fluoride and fluorosilicic acid are the chemicals added to city water supplies. These chemicals are toxic by-products of the aluminum and fertilizer industries, often highly contaminated with lead and arsenic, and were expensive to dispose of until cities were persuaded to put them in the public water for tooth decay prevention. Up until this time, the primary use of fluoride was as a rat poison. After approval for city water, the price of sodium fluoride shot up 1000% almost overnight.

Now that we know that what we are drinking is in actuality a toxic waste product, we must ponder as to the negative health effects that are attributed to its ingestion and usage. In his detailed article entitled Stop fluoridation now: new research on fluoride's brain and thyroid toxicity, Dr. Gary Null outlines these serious health risks:

• Dental fluorosis. The prevalence of dental fluorosis, in which the teeth become permanently stained, brown and mottled due to fluoride exposure, has increased in both fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities in recent decades.

• Skeletal fluorosis. Fluoride that is deposited in the bones and teeth can cause this crippling disorder. Some experts have suggested that while skeletal fluorosis is rarely reported in the US medical literature, cases may go unrecognized due to a lack of knowledge about the disorder among physicians.

• Bone fractures. Studies have found an association between fluoride and the rate of hip fractures among the elderly.

• Cancer. Links to fluoridation have been revealed in numerous studies, with one finding that about two-thirds of 36 cancer sites in the body were associated with fluoridated water.

• Enzyme toxicity and genetic damage. Even 1 ppm of fluoride--an amount deemed safe for water fluoridation--can interfere with biological functions such as DNA repair enzyme activity and cause genetic and chromosomal damage.

• Reproductive effects. Fluoride may have negative effects on the male and female reproductive systems, according to several studies.

• Pineal gland effects. Fluoride's adverse impact on this gland may interfere with the hormone melatonin, which regulates sleep cycles, the onset of puberty and other functions.

• Elevated blood lead levels. Increased levels of lead in the blood of children have been associated with fluoridated drinking water. High levels of lead, in turn, have been linked to certain health disorders and negative behavioral traits.

In addition to this, ingestion of fluoride has been linked to Thryroid problems; most of which involve the disruption of thyroid hormones. Inclusive to this, there have been numerous studies done in China comparing the IQ's of those in high-fluoridated towns and those in low-fluoridated towns. The studies have shown a significant decrease in the IQ's of the children who were exposed to higher levels of fluoride. At this point, I really don't need to explain that no one should be ingesting fluoride (what a coincidence that toothpaste and mouth rinses have warnings not to consume the contents!).

So how does one continue to drink water without the risk of being poisoned by the toxic waste called fluoride? There are a number of methods, actually. The first step everyone should take is to make sure their water is filtered. I touched upon this some in my article What's in your water?, but filtering out fluoride from your water is a bit more troublesome than just getting rid of chlorine. As I understand it, once fluoride mixes with water, it thins out greatly and is very hard to filter out save for a few special processes. If you purchase your water instead of getting it from tap, then you will want to buy water that has been filtered using either Reverse Osmosis or Distillation (though I don't recommend drinking distilled water for prolonged periods of time). However, if you prefer to get your water from tap, then there are two options that I recommend, much as I did in my article:

There are two big names that I trust when it comes to water purification: Berkey and Nikken. Both of these companies produce high-end products and make good on their promises. Berkey is a Texas company that produces primarily counter-top hardcore filtration units that will filter out everything from anywhere (including raw lakes and streams!). In addition to their counter-top units, Berkey also sells a similar-styled unit meant for travel (whether that be camping, sporting events, or survival situations), a fantastic shower filter that I use myself, and a sports bottle that also has enough power to filter out raw lakes and streams (I never am found without my sport Berkey!). I've used Berkey's products for a few years now and I love them; they're also reasonably priced and the Berkey name is well known and respected amongst many groups.

Nikken is also a wonderful company. This Japanese company's products are not limited to just water filtration and really extends to many different categories from air filters to cook ware. I know my Acupuncturist, Helen Law, purchases and uses a number of products from Nikken. Nikken products are pricey, but I think that they are worth every single penny. More on the subject of water filtration, Nikken offers similar products to Berkey: portable sports bottle, counter top units, and a shower unit. But, Nikken also offers something very hard to find: an under-the-counter water filtration system! Nikken's products filter out the same things that Berkey's products do (although it is worth noting that Nikken advises against using raw untreated water with their products), but they also remineralize the water through the use of their “PiMag” magnet technology. My Acupuncturist's office has one of their units that functions similarly to a water cooler and I must say that the water that came from that thing is probably the best water I've ever tasted, so I think that Nikken is on to something with their PiMag technology.

However, having clean tap water isn't enough to keep you from being exposed to fluoride. Fluoride can occur naturally in tea! Now, this doesn't mean you shouldn't stop drinking tea (I drink at least a pot of it every day!), but it is important to take note where it is heaviest. With all things it is best to buy them organic, and tea is certainly no exception because organic teas will contain lower levels of fluoride since they are sheltered from polluted air, chemical sprays, and toxic soils. Green Tea is especially important to always buy organic whenever possible because it can soak up a lot of the fluoride from the soil simply due to how the plant is naturally. The issue of Tea and fluoride is way too detailed to mention here, but Dr. Joseph Mercola's website has a short comparison of popular (mostly instant) teas and their level of fluoride in parts per million (ppm). In Dr. Gary Null's article on fluoride, he outlines methods you can take to protect yourself from fluoride toxicity:

Research suggests that a number of natural substances may oppose the adverse effects of fluoride by preventing or treating the toxicity. In his editorial in Fluoride, Bruce Spittle notes that dietary factors such as an adequate intake of iodine may protect against high-fluoride effects on the brain and IQ. He adds that while animal studies have found a partial recovery of all parameters studied when sodium fluoride and aluminum chloride are withdrawn, "the administration of ascorbic acid, calcium, or vitamin E, alone or in combination, resulted in a more complete recovery from the toxic effects. Recovery was more pronounced with the combination."

Other animal studies have reported similar findings. In one, the effects of sodium fluoride (including locomotor behavioral and dental toxicities) were prevented significantly when the animals received calcium carbonate with the fluoride. In another study, mice receiving a higher concentration of fluoride in drinking water had a remarkable deterioration in learning capability. However, the administration of a proper concentration of selenium with the fluoride could decrease its toxic effects (a concentration of selenium that was too high produced synergistic toxicities). The findings suggested this mineral "might antagonize the neurotoxicity of fluoride on behavior and morphology."

Being healthy yourself though, is still not enough. It is important to contact your State and local officials and urge them to stop putting toxic waste into the public drinking water. Now days it is easier than ever to compile a long list of resources to send to your elected officials for them to read over. Likewise, there is a major public advocacy group called the Fluoride Action Network which has a plethora of information available. There are in fact some cities and states that have completely removed fluoride from their public drinking water! One example that I think of right away is the town of Del Rio. All it took was one concerned individual, and he met with the City Counsel and was able to show them that there is no logical reason that fluoride should be in our drinking water.

As you can see, this is a very detailed subject and unfortunately not enough people know about it because indeed if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it. I encourage everyone to do what they can to share this information with others and sincerely think about what you can do in your city and state to remove this toxic waste from your water. All it takes is one individual, as we saw in the case of the town of Del Rio.

I hope that you're not drinking any tap water, because you may just feel sick after reading this! Accourding to the Environmental Working Group's (EWG's) two-and-a-half year investigation of water suppliers' tests of the treated tap water served to communities across the country, tap water in 42 states is contaminated with more than 140 unregulated chemicals that lack safety standards! In total, there are 260 different chemical contaminants that are in our drinking water! Now given, 119 of those are regulated with safety standards, but that is still an astounding number of chemicals in our “fresh tap water”. Peculiarly, I had a lot of trouble finding a definitive and official list of all of the 119 regulated chemicals that are in tap water, but I was able to find one resource that made mention of some of the contaminants that are in our tap water. What are some of the chemicals in tap water? Let's see a small list:

Chlorine
Chloramine
Bacteria
Lead
Asbestos
Chemical Pollution:

• trichloroethane (industrial solvents!)

• volatile organic compounds (various plastics, gasolines and petroleum products)

Herbicides:

• dioxin (2-4D)

• lindane

Pesticides:

• DDT (uhuhh)

• malathione

Chlorine-resistant Cysts & Parasites:

• Giardia

• Cryptosporidia

I encourage everyone to look at the elongated version over at Healing Daily.com; what you see here is simply a condensed, bulleted, list for the sake of saving space. This list is hardly the full list of contaminant's that are in our water supply though. Don't forget that the Environmental Working Group had found a total of 260 different chemical contaminants in our water! What I find odd is that I can not – anywhere – find a listing of all the chemical contaminants that are in our water.. I can't even find a full list of what's supposed to officially be in our water “for our own good”. Perhaps it's just a lack of research on my part, but this sort of secrecy is very troubling when it involves the health of millions each day!

You may be wondering as to what the solution is to all of this. Not drinking water isn't an option. Our bodies are made of 70% water and undiagnosed dehydration is prevalent; this is something I will discuss next month. Simply put, we must consume water throughout the day or we risk health complications. But this becomes a problem when the very water we are to consume is literally poison. I was going to wait until next month's newsletter to outline my picks for water filtration, but I decided that it's important to know your options now so that you can keep drinking water and won't waste your money on the wrong product.

The first option many will turn to is bottled water. Is this an option? Eh.... sorta. Bottled water is much cleaner than tap, certainly, but bottled water goes far fewer routine testings than tap and so it has the potential of being contaminated. Another issue, is that it's been discovered that the water will – after a period of time – actually leech chemicals from the plastic containers! So unless you know a good deal about the company you're buying your bottled water from, and know when it was bottled, I'd try to stay away from bottled water as a tap water alternative.

There are two big names that I trust when it comes to water purification: Berkey and Nikken. Both of these companies produce high-end products and make good on their promises. Berkey is a Texas company that produces primarily counter-top hardcore filtraition units that will filter out everything from anywhere (including raw lakes and streams!). In addition to their counter-top units, berkey also sells a similar-styled unit meant for travel (whether that be camping, sporting events, or survival situations), a fantastic shower filter that I use myself, and a sports bottle that also has enough power to filter out raw lakes and streams (I never am found without my sport berkey!). I've used berkey's products for a few years now and i love them; they're also reasonably priced and the Berkey name is well known and respected amongst many groups.

Nikken is also a wonderful company. This Japanese company's products are not limited to just water filtration and really extends to many different categories from air filters to cook ware. I know my Acupuncturist Helen Law purchases and uses a number of products from Nikken. Nikken products are pricey, but I think that they are worth every single penny. More on the subject of water filtration, Nikken offers similar products to Berkey: portable sports bottle, counter top units, and a shower unit. But, Nikken also offers something very hard to find: an under-the-counter water filtration system! Nikken's products filter out the same things that Berkey's products do (although it is worth noting that Nikken advises against using raw untreated water with their products), but they also remineralize the water through the use of their “PiMag” magnet technology. My Acupuncturist's office has one of their units that functions similarly to a water cooler and I must say that the water that came from that thing is probably the best water I've ever tasted so I think that Nikken is on to something with their PiMag technology.

There are other filtration systems out there for water, but I've never used them, and so I can not comment on them. Right now I own a berkey KDF shower filter and a sport berkey and once I can, I plan on buying a nikken under the counter filter system as well. I hope all this has helped! I strongly suggest reading the entire article from Healing Daily and understanding exactly what kind of disgusting things are in our water. There is also the issue of Fluoride, which I will be covering later; it's a huge subject that deserves an article all to itself!