The answer to that question is a resounding YES!! Why? Because the water most of us drink is either from your tap (most times from a municipal water agency) or bottled water. Both of these sources have many potential issues!
Tap Water
The majority of Americans (about 85%) get their tap water from public water systems. The other 15% receive water from private water systems not subject to government regulation.
Did you know that the water that comes out of your tap may not be very good for you? Despite the fact that local water agencies are held to strict regulatory standard for germs and bacteria content. The water they deliver most often contains additives designed to control germs and impurities that are, by themselves, not good for children and other living things.
The United States has one of the best reputations for its clean public water supply, yet your drinking water may still be unsafe and contaminated.
More than 60,000 chemicals are used in the U.S., but only 90 water contaminants are regulated under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
The SDWA doesn’t completely remove all of these 90 contaminants from our water, however; it only sets a ‘safe standard’ on the maximum contaminant levels allowed in public drinking water.
Over time, these chemicals and other unregulated contaminants can build up in your body and potentially damage your health.
“My biggest concerns are pharmaceuticals and fluoride,” water expert Michael Cervin told FoxNews.com. “Sure, arsenic, lead, uranium and mercury all sound bad, but they are far less worrisome than man-made toxins.”
Some of the “less than healthy” things added to water by municipalities include:
Flouride
One of the most toxic substances we know of is fluoride. Tap water is actually fluoridated, meaning it’s added to water deliberately, notwithstanding it’s almost as poisonous as arsenic is, and more toxic than lead. This substance is so toxic that the fluoridation process has been banned in several countries. Even some U.S. cities have caught on and started rejecting the process of fluoridation since 1990.
A majority of municipalities add fluoride. According to the National Toxicology Program (NTP), “the preponderance of evidence” from laboratory studies indicates that fluoride is a mutagen (a compound that can cause genetic damage). A chemical that can cause genetic damage is one that can likely cause, or contribute to, the development of cancer.
Fluoride & Osteosarcoma (Bone Cancer)
The concern that fluoride can cause cancer has been fueled by evidence linking it to a serious form of bone cancer known as osteosarcoma. This evidence includes a government animal study as well as several studies of human populations living in the United States.
Osteosarcoma is a rare, but deadly, form of cancer that strikes primarily during the teenage years. A national case control study published in 2006 by Harvard scientists found that boys exposed to fluoridated water during their 6th, 7th, and 8th years of life (the mid-childhood growth spurt) had a significantly elevated risk of developing osteosarcoma during adolescence. (Bassin 2006).
Fluoride & Bladder/Lung Cancer
In addition to osteosarcoma, a number of studies of fluoride-exposed workers have found associations between airborne fluoride exposure and both bladder and lung cancer. Although fluoride’s association with these cancers has generally been attributed to poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) — a non-fluoride airborne contaminant — a twenty-year study of a workplace with no PAH exposure found a similarly elevated rate of both bladder and lung cancer in the fluoride-exposed workers. (Grandjean 2004). Based on these findings, the authors concluded that “fluoride should be considered a possible cause of bladder cancer and a contributory cause of primary lung cancer.”
Arsenic
Arsenic is a very toxic heavy metal classified by the International Academy for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a Category I carcinogen, which means it is definitely a cancer causing agent. Arsenic occurs naturally in the environment but humans have a hand in its presence as well. The EPA set the acceptable standard for arsenic at 10 parts per billion in tap water. Several US states in the Midwest, New England and western area exceed this standard from time to time.
Chlorine
Chlorine is added to water to kill certain bacteria. This chemical can be inhaled in gas form and absorbed through the skin and therefore presents a danger even if you’re present in the room with it, to say nothing of drinking it. Once in the human body, it bonds with other compounds to form Trihalomethanes (THMs). These byproducts trigger the production of free radicals in the body and cause serious cell damage. In one research study, chlorine and chloramine was added to rats’ water supply and as a result the rats developed tumors in the liver kidneys and intestines. Even after this study which shows some of the dangers possible, the government continues to provide chlorinated drinking water to the public.
Lye
A few municipalities have been adding lye to their water in order to reduce its acidity. Lye was added to keep the city’s pipes from corroding so rapidly. (Unfortunately, the water authorities don’t seem to care too much what the lye does to our bodies if we drink straight tap water that is unfiltered.)
Pharmaceuticals
Occurrence of pharmaceuticals in drinking-water
The ubiquitous use of pharmaceuticals (both prescribed and over the counter) has resulted in a relatively continuous discharge of pharmaceuticals and their metabolites into wastewater. In addition, pharmaceuticals may be released into water sources in the effluents from poorly controlled manufacturing or production facilities, primarily those associated with generic medicines.
According to the investigation, the drugs get into the drinking water supply through several routes: some people flush unneeded medication down toilets; other medicine gets into the water supply after people take medication, absorb some, and pass the rest out in urine or feces. Some pharmaceuticals remain even after wastewater treatments and cleansing by water treatment plants, the investigation showed.
Although levels are low — reportedly measured in parts per billion or trillion — and utility companies contend the water is safe, experts from private organizations and the government say they can’t say for sure whether the levels of drugs in drinking water are low enough to discount harmful health effects.
Bottled Water
The issues with bottled water are myriad! There are so many reasons to avoid bottled water that it is amazing that the bottled water industry is so huge. It just proves the power of marketing. The big bottled water suppliers like Coca-Cola (Dasani), Pepsi (AquaFina) , and Nestle (Pure Life, Arrowhead, and others) are spending millions of dollars to make sure the public is aware of the problems mentioned above and to convince them that their product is free from all of those problems.
The problem is… They are usually only marginally better at best, and in many cases not at all.
Just a few of the problems with bottled water are:
- Nearly all of them are Acidic
- Most of them are simply filtered municipal water
- The plastic bottles they come in.
Let’s look at each issue:
Acidity
Our bodies need to be in a slightly alkaline pH balance (7.365 on the pH scale). When our pH levels fall below 7.0, we develop an condition called acidosis. This causes damage to our systems, Our immune systems operate less efficiently; our organs begin to be stressed. Disease thrives in an acidic environment and cannot live in an alkaline environment. We get sick more frequently. Medical personnel report that nearly all patients with illnesses (as opposed to injuries) in hospitals test to be in some degree of acidosis. Most bottled water producers use Reverse Osmosis and filtration to “Purify”” the water they sell. This process most often removes nearly all of the minerals in the water, minerals like calcium and others provide alkalinity so removing these leaves the water acidic and unhealthful. Our bodies require minerals to function. Water is a very good source of these minerals. When we don’t take in enough of them, our bodies will leach it from our bones. This leaves them brittle and subject to diseases such as osteoporosis.
Nearly all of the bottled water tests at a pH of between 4.5 and 6. Tests also reveal low or no minerals.
Filtered Municipal Waters
As mentioned above, when bottlers use the municipal water sources, they are either using reverse osmosis or filtration or both and simple putting that water into bottles. It is now acidic, and still has some of the additives that the water authority put in. In Japan, reverse osmosis water is called “Dead Water” because it has all of the minerals and nutrients removed.
Plastic Bottle packaging
This is one of the more serious problems with bottled water.
First, the water is the put into plastic containers, then stored in hot warehouses prior to shipping (and often sits in the hot sun in transit), then it sits on store shelves or warehouses until sold, and then stored at home until consumed. During this time, chemicals from the plastic bottles are leached into the water. Some of these chemicals are carcinogenic or just cause other system problems.
Next, the bottled water nearly always tests to be very acidic and we have already discussed that issue.
In the U.S., 1,500 plastic water bottles are consumed every second. Here’s why that’s a major problem for humans, the environment, and the animals on our planet.
The Human Impact
Plastic bottles contain Bisphenol A (BPA), the chemical used to make the plastic hard and clear. BPA is an endocrine disruptor which has been proven to be hazardous to human health. It has been strongly linked to a host of health problems including certain types of cancer, neurological difficulties, early puberty in girls, reduced fertility in women, premature labour, and defects in newborn babies – to name a few examples. BPA enters the human body through exposure to plastics such as bottled drinks and cleaning products. It has been found in significant amounts in at-risk groups such as pregnant women’s placentas and growing foetuses. A study conducted last year found that 96% of women in the U.S have BPA in their bodies.
Bottled drinks also contain phthalates, which are commonly used in the U.S. to make plastics such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) more flexible. Phthalates are also endocrine-disrupting chemicals that have been linked to a wide range of developmental and reproductive effects, including reduced sperm count, testicular abnormality and tumors, and gender development issues.
In addition to the negative impacts of BPA and phthalates on human health there are also growing concerns regarding carcinogens and microbial contaminants that have been found in test samples of bottled water.
Bottling plants also cause problems for the humans who live near them. Water extraction surrounding bottling plants involved millions of gallons of water to make the bottles. This often leads to local water shortages that affects nearby residents, especially farmers who need to provide food for the surrounding neighborhoods.
Finally, the plastic bottles themselves are an environmental issue.
The Environmental Impact
Plastic bottles are made from a petroleum product known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and they require huge amounts of fossil fuels to both make and transport them. In the 1970s the U.S. was the world’s largest exporter of oil, but now it is the largest importer. If you fill a plastic bottle with liquid so that it is 25% full, that’s roughly how much oil it took to make the bottle. For a single-use disposable item, that’s a lot.
It’s harder to recycle plastic bottles than you think. Of the mass numbers of plastic bottles consumed throughout the world, most of them are not recycled because only certain types of plastic bottles can be recycled by certain municipalities. They either end up lying stagnant in landfills, leaching dangerous chemicals into the ground, or they infiltrate our streets as litter. They are found on sidewalks, in parks, front yards and rivers, and even if you chop them into tiny pieces they still take more than a human lifetime to decompose.
Worse yet, in the case of bottled water, the plastic-making process requires over two gallons of water for the purification process of every gallon of water. Due to strict EPA policies, incidents of tap water contamination have to be reported immediately to U.S. citizens, however there is no such rule for bottled water, despite numerous bottled water recalls taking place over the years.
A separate 2014 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences identified giant swirling garbage patches in each of the world’s oceans, containing up to 35,000 tons of plastic. But those patches accounted for less than 1 percent of the plastic thought to be in the oceans — and no one knows, exactly, where the other 99 percent went. One possibility is that marine creatures are eating tiny bits of plastic, which then somehow worms its way into the food chain.
There is a solution to the problem
The good news is, there is a solution! You can actually have Healthy, Alkaline, Super Hydrating water in your home and eliminate the dangers of tap water and plastic bottles, and, at the same time, be doing something to help improve the health of your family, yourself, and our planet.
That solution is to drink water from an Alkaline Water Ionizer. By having a pre-filter to remove the fluoride, chlorine and dissolved solids such as the pharmaceuticals and arsenic and others, and using that filtered water in an Alkaline Ionizer you will be drinking healthy alkaline water which has proven benefits to your body. Also, the ionization process makes the water highly anti-oxidant which helps fight disease, premature aging and overall health. In addition, ionizers re-structure the water from clusters of 10-12 molecules into clusters of 5-8 molecules. This makes the water “wetter”. It makes it easier to be absorbed by the cells, which means you hydrate your body at the cellular level. Medical experts say that as much as 75% or more of Americans suffer from chronic dehydration. Here are some of the major symptoms of dehydration.
- Mild dehydration can slow metabolism as much as 3%
- Dehydration is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue
- A 2% drop in hydration can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing
Green Health Technologies offers a variety of affordable water ionizers and a water pre-filter which can provide this solution for nearly every budget.
Visit www.greenhealthtechnologies.com to learn about these and other green health solutions for you and your family… and our planet!
