What’s In Our Drinking Water?

(all quotes below excerpted from

Joseph Keon's Whole Health, 1997)

"No longer can we turn on the kitchen faucet and assume we are getting safely treated water. The average municipal water source is loaded with toxic contaminants including asbestos, lead, cadmium and other heavy metals, nitrates, fluoride, chlorine, and trihalomethanes. Over 700 chemicals had been identified in drinking water by 1984." . . . (83)

"The latest report from the Environmental Protection Agency found the water systems of 819 cities providing service to 30 million people exceeded the "safe" lead levels established by the Safe Water Drinking Act. The Center for Disease Control and the Environmental Protection Agency have warned that because of increasing outbreaks of cryptosporidium bacteria, cancer patients, organ transplant recipients, and anyone with a weakened immune system should avoid drinking tap water.

"The sources of water contaminants are numerous. They include run-off of pesticides from agricultural areas, commercial lawn fertilizers, leaks from improperly stored or dumped toxic waste, landfills, paints, septic tanks used in rural areas, and antiquated sewer systems that fail to properly treat water before releasing it into rivers and lakes. Heavy metals such as cadmium and lead often find their way into the water system from aging galvanized pipes. Nitrates, a known human carcinogen, are usually the result of chemical fertilizer run-off. Even hospitals have been found to dump low-level radioactive waste into the sewers.

"Fluoride

"There are too many health problems associated with fluoride for us to sit back and hope that, if we put it in our water, it will take care of our teeth. The fact is, the evidence shows fluoride toxicity to be ‘linked with genetic damage in plants and animals, birth defects in humans, especially Down’s syndrome, plus a whole series of allergic reactions ranging from fatigue, headaches, urinary tract irritations, diarrhea, and many others’ [Fox, Martin, Healthy Water (Portsmouth: Healthy Water Research, 1990), 12].

"For years we have accepted as dogma the notion that fluoride in our drinking water helps prevent tooth decay. While there is scientific research supporting the use of fluoride in toothpaste, no scientific research exists to support its use in drinking water. Yet with some of the highest levels of drinking water fluoridation, the United States also has the distinction of having one of the highest levels of tooth decay (emphasis mine). In truth, tooth decay is primarily due to the large consumption of sugar in the United States coupled with poor tooth maintenance (i.e., faulty and inconsistent brushing and flossing habits). Furthermore, in areas where the municipal water systems are high in fluoride, children may develop permanent rust-like stains or "mottling" on their teeth." (84)

"Chlorine

"Chlorine is deliberately placed in our drinking water system as a means of ‘purifying’ it. The reality is quite the contrary. While chlorine does kill some bacteria and other potentially offending matter, studies have linked chlorination with liver, kidney, rectal, and bladder cancers, cancer of the breast, prostate, and testicles, and learning disabilities in children. Recently, a United States-Canadian advisory commission released a statement urging that both countries place an immediate ban on the sale of chlorine because of what it called ‘startling health problems.’

"How chlorine harms us is not fully understood, but researchers believe that once in the body, the chemical mimics the hormone estrogen, excesses of which have long been associated with breast cancer in women and reproductive problems in men. There is a double risk with chlorine because of its tendency to interact negatively with other substances. Natural organic matter and other substances, when mixed with chlorine, create a chemical reaction that results in the production of cancer-causing trihalomethanes (THMs) or haloforms, compounds that promote the production of harmful free radicals." . . . (85)

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Jock Doubleday

Director

Natural Woman, Natural Man, Inc.

http://www.SpontaneousCreation.org

director@spontaneouscreation.org