You may have heard the news that you are drinking unsafe water. Reports say millions of Americans are drinking water tainted with toxic chemicals. USA Today reported about 4 Million in the US exposed to deadly, toxic chemicals in their drinking water.
Despite this reality in the water, federal and state regulators often do not force them to comply with the law, USA Today added. Below is the data that USA Today investigated for a year.
- About 4 million people get water from small companies. They skipped tests or did not conduct them properly.
- Some 100,000 people get water from companies that found high lead but failed to remove it.
- An estimated 850 small companies documented histories of lead contamination. Yet, they did not properly test for lead since 2010.
The above evidence is alarming! People living in rural areas have a high risk of maximum lead exposure. Who would’ve wanted to be protected from lead? The liability of permanent harm is horrifying. Kids are much more to be worried about. They are America’s children -- emphasized by Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech, one of the leading experts of lead in drinking water.
On the other hand, other researchers have analyzed levels of industrial chemicals in over 36,000 water samples from all over the US. They have found that 6 million people are being exposed to unsafe levels in their drinking water.
The researchers say it’s probably too soon to swear off tap water altogether for most people in the affected areas. But they do advise that people in the worst-affected town, Hoosick Falls, NY. They should switch to bottled water for the time being.
What are the Deadly Chemicals Present?
The chemicals in question are called PFASs, or Poly Fluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances. They’re a class of chemicals used to manufacture things like paints, food packaging, leather, and fire-fighting foam because they can repel both oil and water.
The levels of these chemicals exceed government-recommended safety levels. The study found it for at least 6 million people in the United States.
Drinking water from 13 states made up 75 percent of the PFASs detected -- Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
The level of dangerous chemicals in their drinking water may trigger a host of health problems. Those health problems can range from cancer to higher cholesterol levels. It can also compromise immune systems and hormonal disruptions, experts said.
Risks of PFAS
PFAS are known as “forever chemicals." This is because once released into the environment, and they don’t break down. Once ingested, they can build up in our blood and organs.
Exposure to PFAS increases the risk of cancer, harms the development of the fetus, and reduces the effectiveness of vaccines. Biomonitoring studies by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the blood of nearly all Americans is contaminated with PFAS.
The most infamous PFAS compounds are PFOA. It is formerly used by DuPont to make Teflon. PFOS is also formerly an ingredient in 3M’s Scotchgard. The EPA pressured manufacturers to phase out these compounds. But still, they persist in drinking water, people, and the environment.
Other Toxins That Might Be in Your Drinking Water
Water is a life-sustaining fluid that’s essential to health. But it can threaten our health if we’re drinking straight out of the tap.
The trouble is, drink tap or even spring water will likely get you more than you bargained for. Contaminants such as chlorine, fluorine compounds, Trihalomethanes (THMs), various hormones, pesticides, and even trace amounts of prescription drugs. It can be a witches’ brew of health-killing effluvia – but you can improve the odds.
Its quality is a subject that we’ve been giving an on-point realization. We can recall the residents of Flint, Michigan, who suffered from toxic levels of lead in their water due to incompetent governance.
Unfortunately, water quality issues are not a recent development. Industrial dumping, pesticide runoff, leaky storage tanks, and government mandates have created big problems. Let’s take a look at some of the nastiest water contaminants that may be pouring out of your faucet.
1. Fluoride
Adding fluoride to drinking water is a process that began back in the 1940s to help reduce tooth decay. It sounds like a noble cause, but fluoride is a neurotoxin and an endocrine disruptor. It can harm the thyroid gland and calcify the pineal gland.
Some U.S. cities have caught on and started rejecting the process of fluoridation. The US Department of Health has lowered the recommended level of fluoride in drinking water systems. Still, 66% of the US population consume water with the mineral.
A 2012 Harvard University study conducted a meta-analysis of 27 students. The research spanned 22 years. It showed the relationship between fluoride exposure and brain development.
The analysis determined children in areas with high levels of fluoride in their drinking water. It showed they had a lower IQ. This is significantly lower compared to areas with lower levels of fluoride.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also inspected that chronic exposure to high fluoride levels can impair muscles or lead to joint stiffness and pain.
Fluoridation In Other Countries
If fluoridation is not safe and effective, why don't other countries do it? The U.S. is nowhere near the top of any health list which compares other countries of the world. So what are the healthy countries doing?
If fluoride is so great, why have the following countries either never fluoridated or else stopped when they found out how bad it was?:
- West Germany
- The Netherlands
- France
- Belgium
- Finland
- Sweden
- Norway
- Denmark
- Japan
- Italy
- Scotland
2. Chlorine
Chlorine has disinfectant properties that are useful for cleaning products and swimming pools. Chlorine is added to drinking water as a purification technique, despite not being completely safe.
But when chlorine mixes with other organic compounds, it creates a few harmful byproducts. One of these byproducts is a group of chemicals known as trihalomethanes (THMs).
This chemical can have adverse effects on the kidney and can increase the risk for cancer. Another known chemical is haloacetic acids (HAAs). It can cause skin irritation and can also increase cancer risk.
Chlorine is a reactive chemical that bonds with water. Including the water in your gut, it produces poisonous hydrochloric acid. Long-term effects include memory loss and impaired balance.
Low levels of chlorine in the water system can expose people to parasites called Giardia. This pathogen causes nausea, cramps, and diarrhea.
3. Lead
Lead is the main toxin causing problems in Flint and almost every part of the US. It was also a problem in Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC. They have all seen unsafe levels of lead in their water supplies in the recent past.
Lead service lines banned it in the new plumbing systems in the US in 1986. Still, plenty of the nation’s old pipes remain. Today, almost a third of US water systems contain lead service lines. This poses a danger to the resident’s health when the pipes corrode. They can release toxic lead into local drinking water.
Corroded pipes are releasing up to ten times the allowable amount of lead into the water. Lead is toxic to almost every organ and affects children the worst. Children exposed to lead can suffer permanent brain damage. It results in learning disabilities and increased violent behavior. It also poses developmental issues, stunted growth, and deafness. Lastly, brain damage can all result from exposure to lead.
In adults, chronic exposure to low lead levels can cause nausea, seizures, and reproductive issues.
4. Mercury
Although mercury is a naturally occurring element, “natural” does not mean “safe.” Mercury is highly toxic. It can cause brain damage, blindness, nerve damage, cognitive disability, impairment of motor functions, headaches, weakness, muscle atrophy, tremors, mood swings, memory loss, and skin rashes.
Industrial waste sites have been shown to pollute well water contaminated with mercury. Mercury can seep through the well water in various sources. It does not just come from industrial wastes.
They also come from discarded household products such as paint. Even short-term exposure to mercury can have a damaging effect on the nervous system and kidneys. How much more with high or longer exposure to the chemical can impede unborn children's development.
Here the EPA gives good news. EPA has been regulating mercury in drinking water for almost three decades. This means there’s a slim chance your water will be exposed or contaminated.
When regulating tap water across the US, the EPA said they “may not know” whether your water is safe to drink.
5. PCBs
PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are chemicals used for industrial purposes. They are helpful for insulation, machinery, oil, paints, adhesives, electronics, and fluorescent lights.
Although PCBs were banned in 1979, they’re still present in landfills and pose a danger to the environment. PCBs break down slowly and infiltrate the environment. They have been found in snow and seawater thousands of miles from where they were produced.
6. Arsenic
Arsenic is a common element in the earth’s crust, making sense it’s a common contaminant. Reuters reported that southwestern cities like Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Scottsdale, and Tucson have arsenic-contaminated drinking water sources. The levels exceeded what is approved by the EPA.
In California’s Central Valley, excessive groundwater pumping resulted in leached toxic levels of arsenic into local water supplies. The Central Valley’s main agricultural hotspots have shown dangerous levels of arsenic over the last ten years.
This is according to a 2018 Nature study that found 10% of the total wells tested In San Joaquin Valley.
Exposure to arsenic increases one’s risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Like lead, the chemical can bring brain development issues in children.
Arsenic has seeped through the water supply in California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
7. Copper
As pipes and faucets age, they corrode and release copper into the drinking water. They can generate enough exposure to threatening our health. One obvious sign of elevated levels of copper in your pipes is piped turning into blue-green colors.
Copper is not necessarily harmful in small doses. But, high levels of exposure can produce health problems. Such problems are anemia and liver and kidney damage.
In September 2018, at least 57 out of 86 Detroit public schools tested positive for high levels of copper or lead. Elevated levels of copper have been found in Detroit public schools.
8. Radioactive Substances
Radioactive substances include radium, uranium, thorium, and radon. Unlike joint relief, they come from nuclear power plants. All are found in nature. Bad practices can aggravate these naturally occurring isotopes. Such are coal mining, construction, and oil and gas production. They result in seeping into the groundwater.
One incident that leached into the groundwater caused a big problem in Texas. High amounts of radium contributed to the most widespread water violations in the US. Radium exposure shows a link to bone cancer.
Other radioactive materials can produce cancers of the lungs, thyroid, liver, kidneys, stomach, and skin.
9. Perchlorate
Perchlorate is a common oxidizer in solid propellants, fireworks, and explosives. They are also present in fertilizers, chlorine cleaners, and pool chlorination. Perchlorates have contaminated water sources and in drinking water.
California and Massachusetts enforced strict limits on using this chemical. But that doesn’t stop residents of other states from being exposed.
EPA has identified 45 states that have perchlorate in drinking water. This puts an estimated 16 million Americans at risk of consuming the chemical.
The chemical poses the greatest danger to pregnant women and children. This is due to the link between this chemical and brain development issues.
10. Manganese
Manganese is also a natural element found in the earth’s crust, just like Arsenic. It is an essential nutrient as part of the human diet, but the high dosage can have adverse effects.
The nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) determined that an estimated 9 million Americans are exposed to manganese in their drinking water.
It is coming from the public water systems that have 300 parts per billion of manganese. This number is not the set number recommended by EPA.
Some scientists and research shows it can affect the nervous system. For now, overexposure to the mineral poses the most significant risk to children and pregnant women.
Other studies also exposed that manganese can lead to behavior issues and intellectual impairment.
11. Nitrate
Like Arsenic, nitrate is a contaminant in the groundwater. The chemical makes its way into the water sources. They seep through as runoffs of fertilizers or septic systems.
Though it does not pose threats to adults, nitrate-contaminated water is dangerous for infants. This is the case for those who consume more water relative to their body weight.
Even for a short time of exposure, the chemical can reduce the amount of oxygen in an infant’s blood. This leads to methemoglobinemia or “baby blue disease.” The symptoms include digestive and respiratory problems, brain damage, and even death.
How to Combat the Issues in Your Drinking Water?
Some people are under the impression that they can remove toxins from water by boiling it. Boiling water kills harmful organisms. But still, it does nothing to remove toxic chemicals, compounds, salts, and metals.
One more home remedy is to flush your pipes before drinking. Only use cold water for consumption, for drinking, cooking, and especially for making baby formula.
They will probably be effective in reducing lead levels because most of the lead in household water usually comes from the plumbing in your house. They are not really from the local water supply.
However, those simple remedies made mentioned above are still uncertain. We wanted what is best. We aim for an assertive assurance that the water we are drinking is 101% free from pathogens. And certainly with disease-causing toxic.
With a new water crisis popping up in the news practically every week, there isn’t much explanation needed for this one.
Water filtration is simple. It is a no-brainer way to support your health by preventing toxic chemicals and carcinogens from entering your body. This is why everyone should do it.
From lead and PFCs to toxic chromium 6, there has been so much media coverage. This year alone. There is gross negligence of our water treatment facilities within the United States. Bottom line, if you’re looking to avoid or overcome any health crisis. Secure your access to clean drinking water is a must!
More than 200 million Americans are exposed to unsafe levels of heavy metal contaminants, pesticides, and other toxic chemicals.
Let’s face it: Tap water is filled with unwanted toxic such as endocrine disruptors, mood-altering medications, antibiotics, and other pharmaceutical agents – which get flushed down the toilet and reintroduced into the water supply.
With all of these concerns, it has become a critical health issue – what is the quality of the water you drink? Of course, I’ve written extensively about the value of drinking (pure) spring water – but not everyone has access to this kind of water.
The Berkey Water Filter system offers clean water (for pennies per gallon) compared to expensive brands of bottled water. In addition, several brands of bottled water fail to provide clean drinking water – because their filtration systems are not that great.
Using filtration systems to rid our tap water from harmful contaminants
Bottled water, in some cases, can be of high quality, but its cost makes it a less-than-ideal solution. There is also a potential problem with the cloudy plastic (PVC) containers from your grocery store as they transfer far too many chemicals into the water. Therefore let's look at filters for a better solution.
"Buy a filter or be a filter." That's one company's slogan.
Today there is enough grassroots consciousness about the dangers of tap water that cheap carbon filters are now available in any hardware store which attach easily to the kitchen faucet. Such filters likely get rid of most of the chlorine - for a while.
But to get the resistant biologicals, fluoride, heavy metals, and other contaminants, the customer should consider one of the high-end drinking water filters.
Killing microbes is not a big deal since most of that's been done by chlorine. Most contaminants are removed by better filters. The problem when choosing a filter seems to come down to four main concerns: fluoride, minerals, THMs, and nitrates.
It is difficult to find one filter that does everything: many reverse osmosis filters take out fluoride and healthy minerals. Many of the high-end carbon filters will not remove fluoride or nitrates but leave the healthy minerals.
Fluoride is an important one. Find out if the filter you are about to buy removes fluoride and what percentage. After what we've learned about fluoride, we should expect a filter to remove it, wouldn't you say? The problem is the demand.
Due to fluoride advocate propaganda, most Americans don't even realize fluoride is bad for them, and therefore don't think about it when considering a water filter.
The mineral is an area of some controversy. You've got the hard water/soft water debate. Hard water has more minerals in it, which is better for the bones and teeth, and probably for the heart.
Most naturopaths and holistic nutritionists don't like distilled water because they say it leaches minerals from the bones and teeth. In general, that seems logical, although some expert says it doesn't make any difference unless the person is extremely malnourished.
The truth is, no formal studies comparing distilled with mineral water have been done, so it's all pretty theoretical. But thinking about the Hunzas and their 120-year lifespan attributed to the glacial mineral waters they drank, one can see the value of minerals in drinking water.
A high-end water filter should consider this discussion and explain the importance or unimportance of filtering out certain minerals. The water filter that has been strongly preferred is the Berkey water filter.
The health benefits of using a Berkey Water Filter
- Conveniently protect your loved ones from toxic chemical exposures such as chromium 6, lead, Perfluorinated Chemicals (PFCs), and pharmaceuticals from your tap water.
- Peace of mind – in the event of an emergency like loss of electricity, you will have access to clean drinking water.
- Having filtered water in your home does not mean having to install a costly, in-line system.
What do Berkey Water Filters remove?
Berkey Water Filters can remove
- Lead - Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Arsenic - Removed to greater than 99.9%
- Iron - Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Mercury - Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Chlorine - Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Bisphenol-A - Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Chloramines - Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Pharmaceuticals - Removed to greater than 99.5%.
- Petroleum Contaminants - Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Methylcyclohexane-methane - Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Pesticides - Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Heavy Metals - Removed to greater than 99.1%.
- Atrazine - Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Fluoride - Removed to greater than 99.9%.
What else does the Berkey Water Filter have to offer?
The Berkey Filter System is a free-standing countertop unit, making it completely portable and affordable. The filters last 3-4 years on average, meaning the cost is pennies per gallon.
In addition, portable Berkey units are perfect for travel or vacation. Even for camping, these filters are ideal for taking along.
Conclusion
Of all the facts determined above, may it be through researches, studies, and newsprint or mainstream media. It is distinctly evident how toxic chemicals excruciatingly ravage Americans’ drinking water. Unfortunately, this has had caused malignant health issues to thousands of millions of them!
In a nutshell, Berkey Water System is created to combat those water issues simply. Those problems are seriously practical to rectify in every household. This water filtration has authentically proven its efficiency and effectiveness.
Living a healthy lifestyle and making better choices for you and your family should not start with the food you eat.
Choosing to drink clean water will bring you one step closer to meeting your health and fitness goals by avoiding exposure to unwanted toxins through investing in your own Berkey water system.
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