Chemicals in Your Drinking Water That Could Be Wrecking Your Health
December 28, 2013
Story at-a-glance
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Most tap water is far from pure, containing a vast array of
disinfection byproducts, chemicals, radiation, heavy metals,
and even pharmaceutical drugs
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Federal scientists report finding traces of 18 unregulated
contaminants in one-third of the water samples collected
from 25 municipal utilities across the US in their most
recent testing, including perfluorinated compounds like PFOA
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Studies suggest a probable link between PFOA in drinking
water and high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid
disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer, and
pregnancy-induced hypertension
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The addition of contaminated fluoride to the water supply
may be contributing to increased cancer rates in the US
because of the arsenic it contains
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The featured documentary, An Inconvenient Tooth, reveals the
many problems associated with water fluoridation, and why
it’s a practice that really needs to be stopped for the
public’s greater good
By Dr. Mercola
Every day, you lose water from your body through urine and sweat,
and this fluid needs to be replenished. Clean, pure water is
therefore one of the most important foundations for optimal
health.
Unfortunately, most tap water is far from pure, containing a vast
array of
disinfection byproducts, chemicals,
radiation,
heavy metals, and even
pharmaceutical drugs.
Fluoride, which is still being added to many municipal water
supplies, is yet another factor that can make the water you drink
each day more harmful than healing.
The featured documentary, An Inconvenient Tooth,1
reveals the many problems associated with water fluoridation, and
why it’s a practice that really needs to be stopped for the public’s
greater good.
Amazingly, the debate over the dangers of fluoride and has been
ongoing for more than six decades. Yet study after study confirms
that fluoride is a dangerous, toxic poison that bioaccumulates in
your body while being ineffective at preventing dental decay...
Unregulated Contaminants Found in Many US Water Utilities
Fluoride isn’t the only hazard that might be lurking in your tap
water. In related news, federal scientists report finding traces of
18 unregulated contaminants in one-third of the water samples
collected from 25 municipal utilities across the US in their most
recent testing. As reported by the featured article in
Scientific American:2
“Included are 11 perfluorinated compounds, an herbicide,
two solvents, caffeine, an antibacterial compound, a metal and
an antidepressant...
‘The good news is the concentrations are generally pretty
low,’ said Dana Kolpin, a research hydrologist with the USGS who
participated in the study. ‘But,’ he added, ‘there’s still the
unknown. Are there long-term consequences of low-level exposure
to these chemicals?’”
Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), 11 of which were found in this
most recent government test, have become so ubiquitous that many of
them are now detected in humans—including children. According to the
CDC's “Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental
Chemicals” published in 2009,3
a dozen different types of perfluorinated compounds
were detected in Americans tested.
The potential health consequences of ingesting PFCs are not
a complete mystery. As reported in the featured article:
“The two most common perfluorinated compounds, PFOS and
PFOA, in the utilities’ water have been detected in the blood of
nearly all people in the United States.
A panel of scientists has concluded4
that there is a ‘probable link’ between PFOA in drinking
water and high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease,
testicular cancer, kidney cancer and pregnancy-induced
hypertension.
The findings were based on people in Mid-Ohio
Valley communities whose water was polluted with PFOA
from a DuPont plant.” [Emphasis mine]
What You Need to Know About Perfluorinated Compounds
I've written many articles about one of the most common sources
of these hazardous chemicals, namely
non-stick cookware, but contaminated drinking water is another
pervasive source. PFCs like PFOA and PFOS are part of an expanding
group of chemicals commonly referred to as
"gender-bending" chemicals, because they can disrupt your
endocrine system and affect your sex hormones. In animal studies,
PFOA has also been linked to:
- Infertility -- A 2009 study5
found that both PFOA and PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate),
dramatically increased the odds of infertility. PFOS increased
the risk of infertility anywhere from 70 to 134 percent, while
PFOA was linked to a 60 to 154 percent increase in the chance of
infertility.
- Thyroid disease – According to a study6
published in 2010, PFOA can damage your thyroid function.
Individuals with the highest PFOA concentrations were more than
twice as likely to report current thyroid disease, compared to
those with the lowest PFOA concentrations.
Your thyroid contains thyroglobulin protein, which binds to
iodine to form hormones, which in turn influence essentially
every organ, tissue, and cell in your body. Thyroid hormones are
also required for growth and development in children. Thyroid
disease, if left untreated, can lead to heart disease,
infertility, muscle weakness, and osteoporosis.
- Cancer -- PFOA has been associated with
tumors in at least four different organs in animal tests (liver,
pancreas, testicles, and mammary glands in rats), and has been
associated with increases in prostate
cancer in PFOA plant
workers. The EPA has ruled PFCs as "likely carcinogens," and has
stated that PFOA "poses developmental and reproductive risks to
humans."
- Immune system problems -- Several studies
by scientists in Sweden indicate that PFCs have an adverse
effect on your immune system. As described in a report on PFCs
by the Environmental Working Group7
(EWG), PFOA was found to decrease all immune cell subpopulations
studied, in the thymus and spleen, and caused immunosupression.
- Increased LDL
cholesterol levels – A recent study in the
Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine8
implicates both PFOA and PFOS. Children and teens with higher
PFOA levels had higher levels of total cholesterol and LDL or
"bad" cholesterol, while PFOS was associated with increased
total cholesterol, including both LDL cholesterol and HDL or
"good" cholesterol.
Fluoride—A Stealth Source of Arsenic Contamination
Another common water contamination is
arsenic—a powerful carcinogen that has been linked to an
increased risk of several types of cancer. The level of arsenic in
US tap water tends to be high due to natural groundwater
contamination.9
But the biggest culprit is actually fluoride, as the most
common form of fluoride used for water fluoridation
(hexafluorosilicic acid) is frequently contaminated with arsenic. In
fact, according to one recent study,10
switching the type of fluoride used to pharmaceutical-grade sodium
fluoride would reduce the amount of inorganic arsenic contamination
in drinking water by 99 percent!
For people living in areas with fluoridated tap water, fluoride
is a part of every glass of water, every bath and shower, and every
meal cooked using that water. It seems inevitable that the addition
of contaminated hexafluorosilicic acid to the water supply by
definition must also increase the cancer rate in the US because of
the arsenic it contains...
Moreover, not only is there mounting evidence that fluoride
itself poses grave health risks to infants and children—including
reductions in IQ—arsenic exposure in utero and during early
childhood is also particularly problematic, as it can cause lasting
harm to children's developing brains, and endocrine and immune
systems.
Water Filtration—A Must for Clean Pure Water…
I strongly recommend using a high-quality water filtration system
unless you can verify the purity of your water. To be absolutely
certain you are getting the purest water you can, you'll want to
filter the water both at the point of entry and at the point of use.
This means filtering all the water that comes into the house, and
then filtering again at the kitchen sink. I currently use a whole
house carbon-based water filtration system, in addition to a reverse
osmosis (RO) filter to purify my drinking water.
You can read more about
water filtration in this
previous article to help you make a decision about what type of
water filtration system will be best for you and your family. Since
most water sources are now severely polluted, the issue of water
filtration and purification couldn't be more important.
It is important to remember that once added, fluoride is very
difficult to remove from water. The best way to remove fluoride from
your water supply is to never put it in there in the first place.
This is one of the reasons we are actively collaborating with Paul
Connett and F.A.N. to help remove fluoride from the water supplies.
To date, we have been successful at helping over 200 cities in North
America to remove it from their water supply, including Portland,
Oregon last year.
Ideal Water Sources
Besides purification, I also believe it’s critical to drink
living water. I recently interviewed
Dr. Gerald Pollack about his book, The Fourth Phase of
Water: Beyond Solid, Liquid, and Vapor. This fourth phase of
water is referred to as “structured water” and is the type of water
found in all of your cells. This water has healing properties, and
is naturally created in a variety of ways. Water from a deep spring
is one excellent source of structured water. The deeper the better,
as structured water is created under pressure. There's a great
website called FindaSpring.com11
where you can find a natural spring in your area.
But you can also promote structured water through vortexing. I
personally drink vortexed water nearly exclusively as I became a big
fan of Viktor Schauberger who did much pioneering work on vortexing
about a century ago. Dr. Pollack found that by creating a vortex in
a glass of water, you’re putting more energy into it, thereby
increasing the structure of the water. According to Dr. Pollack,
virtually ANY energy put into the water seems to create or build
structured water.
My own R&D team is working on a careful study in which we use
vortexed water to grow sprouts, to evaluate the vitality and
effectiveness of the water. We’ve already budgeted a quarter million
for this internal research to develop the best vortex machine on the
market, because we believe an ideal vortexer could be one of the
simplest ways to improve your health and we hope to bring it to
market in the next year.
Water Fluoridation Is Anything But Safe...
Most likely, water fluoridation remains a government policy
because the government agencies that have been promoting it as safe
for all these years stand to lose public trust. The thing is, the
longer they wait to take corrective action, and the more people
discover the truth about fluoride, the worse public trust in those
agencies will get anyway...
Clean pure water is a prerequisite to optimal health, and
industrial chemicals, drugs and other toxic additives really have no
place in our water supplies. So I urge you to join the Fluoride
Action Network’s efforts12
and your local anti-fluoride movements in the US and Canada to clean
up our water.
Join the Fight to Get Fluoride Out of Drinking Water
There's no doubt about it: fluoride should not be ingested.
Even scientists from the EPA's National Health and Environmental
Effects Research Laboratory have classified fluoride as a "chemical
having substantial evidence of developmental neurotoxicity.”
Furthermore, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), 41 percent of American adolescents now have dental
fluorosis—unattractive discoloration and mottling of the teeth that
indicate overexposure to fluoride. Clearly, children are being
overexposed, and their health and development put in jeopardy.
Why?
At least when it comes to topical application, you have a choice.
You can easily buy fluoride-free toothpaste and mouthwash. But
you're stuck with whatever your community puts in the water, and
it's very difficult to filter out of your water once it's added.
Many do not have the resources or the knowledge to do so.
The only real solution is to stop the archaic practice of water
fluoridation in the first place. Fortunately, the Fluoride Action
Network has a game plan to END water fluoridation, both in the
United States and Canada. Clean pure water is a prerequisite to
optimal health. Industrial chemicals, drugs and other toxic
additives really have no place in our water supplies. So, please,
support the anti-fluoride movement by making a donation to the
Fluoride Action Network today.
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
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