The Poisoning of America's Water Supplies

[Guest guest]

The Poisoning of America's Water Supplies

Thursday, July 03, 2008 by: Mark Sircus Ac., OMD

http://www.naturalnews.com/023565.html

(NaturalNews) Every day in the United States more than 240 million people turn

on their faucets in order to drink, bathe, and cook, using water from public

water systems. But more people are arriving to the point where they will not let

a drop of water touch their lips in their own homes unless that water comes from

a bottle shipped from a fresh water source. And even then we still have trouble

in the home. Researchers at the University of Texas found that showers and

dishwashers liberate trace amounts of chemicals from municipal water supplies

into the air .

" The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives. " - American Indian

Proverb

Squirting hot water through a nozzle, to produce a fine spray, increases the

surface area of water in contact with the air, liberating dissolved substances

in a process known as " stripping. " So if we want to avoid those chemicals

drinking bottled water is not enough. Chemically sensitive individuals would

also have to wear a gas mask in the shower, and when unloading the dishwasher if

they want to avoid chemical contamination. And even then the skin will absorb

directly in the shower chemicals like fluoride so we cannot assume we are safe

from the contaminants even if we are drinking pure water. The majority of people

still take the purity of their tap water for granted when they shouldn't.

When we look deeper we can see that even in a rich country like the United

States, we all have reason to be concerned about not only drinking, but even

bathing in water that comes from public treatment systems. Albuquerque, Fresno,

and San Francisco are examples of cities that have water that is sufficiently

contaminated so as to pose serious potential health risks to pregnant women,

infants, children, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems,

according to Dr. Ozonoff [ii]. What we find in these waters are

contaminants that occur with surprising regularity, regardless of location, such

as chlorination by-products, lead, and coliform bacteria. Other contaminants,

such as Teflon and rocket fuel occur less frequently but pose major health

concerns. If we include the fact that fluoride is actually poisonous we have

water that is slowly killing some Americans and depressing the health of almost

everyone who drinks and showers in it.

And the problems with water just do not end. In August 2005 we learned that

common household brass plumbing fixtures may release far more lead into drinking

water than previously believed. As a result, even new homes built with brass

fixtures like ball valves and water meters could end up with potentially unsafe

lead levels. In a report trumpeted by the National Science Foundation, Virgina

Tech researchers charged that the standards used to certify the brass plumbing

supplies found at most hardware stores may be inadequate to predict lead

contamination of water. This contradicts years of assumptions that lead

contamination primarily comes from old leaden pipes or public water systems with

lead contamination problems [iii]. Contrary to popular belief, many plumbing

supplies sold today are not lead-free but contain up to 8 percent lead content

in brass fixtures [iv]. Lead makes brass and other metals more malleable,

helping manufacturers create intricate shapes.

The consequence though is extraordinarily high for exposure to lead in drinking

water which results in delays in physical and mental development, along with

slight deficits in attention span and learning abilities. In adults, it can

cause increases in blood pressure. Adults who drink this water over many years

could develop kidney problems or high blood pressure according to the American

EPA [v]. The Romans had their engineers turn the populace into neurological

cripples when they started using lead in their water systems but they did not

have to deal with either fluoride or mercury. The three together, mercury, lead

and fluoride become a kind of devil's triangle of chemical toxicity that is only

made worse by aluminum and a host of other hostile chemicals that are clogging

up our bodies.

Water pollution by drugs is an emerging issue that is extremely important.

Pharmaceuticals are now attracting attention as a whole new class of water

pollutants. At the recent American Chemical Society conference, Metcalfe

of Trent University in Ontario reported finding a vast array of drugs leaving

Canadian sewage treatment plants. Padma Venkatraman, a postdoctoral fellow at

s Hopkins concluded that antidepressants, anticonvulsants, anticancer drugs

and antimicrobials are among the pharmaceuticals most likely to be found at

" toxicologically significant levels " in the environment.

These drugs and many more [vi] are finding their way into public water systems

because pharmaceutical industries, hospitals and other medical facilities as

well as households dispose of unused medicines and even human excreta can

contain incompletely metabolized medicines. Millions of doses of prescription

drugs that Americans swallow annually to combat cancer, pain, depression and

other ailments do not disappear harmlessly into their digestive systems but

instead make their way back into the environment where they may contaminate

drinking water and pose a threat to life, according to researchers at

Hopkins medical center.

These drugs pass intact through conventional sewage treatment facilities, into

waterways, lakes and even aquifers. Discarded pharmaceuticals often end up at

dumps and land fills, posing a threat to underlying groundwater. And farm

animals also are a huge source of pharmaceuticals entering the environment

because of the massive use of hormones, antibiotics and veterinary medicines

used in their care. Along with pharmaceuticals, personal care products also are

showing up in water. Generally these chemicals are the active ingredients or

preservatives in cosmetics, toiletries or fragrances. For example, nitro musks,

used as a fragrance in many cosmetics, detergents, toiletries and other personal

care products, have attracted concern because of their persistence and possible

adverse environmental impacts. Some countries have taken action to ban nitro

musks. Also, sun screen agents have been detected in lakes and fish.

It is hard to tell which is worse, the toxic chemicals and drugs that are

leeching into the public water systems or the noxious chemicals deliberately put

in the water by public health officials. Standard water treatments result in

health threats yet health officials are loath to admit any problem that we

should beware of. Chlorination of drinking water supplies virtually eliminates

most disease or bacterial contamination, but creates traces of several toxic

by-products in drinking water -- such as chloroform, trihalomethanes and other

chlorinated organic compounds. In recent years municipal water districts across

the United States are changing the way they disinfect public water supplies.

Many are adding ammonia to chlorinated water to produce chloramines [vii], or

chloraminated water. They are doing that in order to meet standards set by the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While chloramination has been used

as a way to lower the level of carcinogenic disinfection byproducts (DBPs)

created by chlorination, it has led to extreme water toxicity. Chloraminated

water kills fish and reptiles and there is no reason to believe it is safe for

human consumption.

" I almost died, " Kula of Menlo Park said the day after

chloramines were added to her water supply. " I was in the shower and suddenly I

could not breathe. I passed out on the floor. I was terrified. "

" The government is hiding the fact that the drinking water is not usable, " says

medical scientist Dr. Winn who tells us that the most at-risk groups from

chloraminated water are the fetus in the first trimester, children to age three,

people over age 60 and those with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Women in

the 35-45 age group are at risk of recurring rashes on the inner thighs and

chest, he added. is calling for government funding of alternative

disinfection methods, such as ultra-violet and reverse osmosis, which would make

harmful chemical disinfection methods obsolete. " We need to amend the

Constitution, " said, " to give the people in each state the right to vote

on what goes into their water. " [viii] A recently discovered disinfection

byproduct iodoacetic acid, found in U.S. drinking water treated with

chloramines, is the most toxic ever found according to Dr. J. Plewa, a

genetic toxicology expert at the University of Illinois [ix].

" Individuals who consume chlorinated drinking water have an elevated risk of

cancer of the bladder, stomach, pancreas, kidney and rectum as well as Hodgkin's

and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. " [x] - Dr. J. Plewa

When Washington DC changed in 2000 to chloramines, this newly treated water

reacted with the lead in the pipes to poison the drinking water. Lead levels

were found in Washington's water 3,200 times the EPA's " action level " and 4,800

times the UN's acceptable level for the toxic heavy metal. Americans have been

conditioned to believe that the problem with lead has mostly disappeared but

nothing could be further from the truth. According to the Washington Post, " In

New York City, the nation's largest water provider has for the past three years

assured its 9.3 million customers that its water was safe because the lead

content fell below federal limits. But the city has withheld from regulators

hundreds of test results that would have raised lead levels above the safety

standard in two of those years. " [xi]

" The drinking water lead crisis in Washington D.C. poses serious public health

risks to thousands of residents of the national capital area, and casts a dark

shadow of doubt over the ability, resources, or will of federal and local

officials to fulfill their duty to protect our health, " said D. Schwartz,

National Policy Coordinator, Clean Water Action [xii].

After switching to chloraminated water, children in Washington ingested more

than 60 times the EPA's maximum level of lead with one glass of water [xiii].

Jim Elder, who headed the EPA's drinking water program from 1991 to 1995, said

he fears that utilities are engaging in " widespread fraud and manipulation. It's

time to reconsider whether water utilities can be trusted with this crucial

responsibility of protecting the public. I fear for the safety of our nation's

drinking water. Apparently, it's a real crap shoot as to what's going to come

out of the tap and whether it will be healthy or not. "

Cities across the country are manipulating the results of tests used to detect

lead in water, violating federal law and putting millions of Americans at risk.

- Washington Post [xiv]

Underground aquifers can become contaminated with bacteria and viruses because

of insufficient topsoil layers to filter rainwater as it trickles down to

recharge the groundwater. Livestock manure, human sewage sludge, fertilizers,

weed killers [xv] and pesticides seep down into groundwater supplies. The

intensification of agricultural practices -- in particular, the heavy use of

fertilizers and pesticides -- has had a huge impact on water quality. The main

agricultural water pollutants are nitrates[xvi], phosphorus, and pesticides.

Rising nitrate concentrations threaten the quality of drinking water, while high

pesticide use contributes substantially to the direct poisoning of our water

supplies.

The Netherlands National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection

(RIVM, 1992) concluded that " groundwater is threatened by pesticides in all

European states. " WHO (1993) has established drinking water guidelines for 33

pesticides but an awareness is growing that in all matters water related we are

not being protected from serious harm. There really is no limit to the concerns

and chemicals that make drinking public water a bad idea.

There really is no end to the serious problems with tap water that are being

seriously underestimated. The National Academy of Sciences has concluded that

arsenic is so dangerous in drinking water that stringent levels set by the

Clinton administration and later suspended by the Bush White House were not

strict enough. For decades, the Environmental Protection Agency set an

acceptable arsenic level of 50 parts per billion in drinking water. But recent

studies suggested that this level was too high and increased the risk of bladder

and lung cancer. A report by the National Academy of Sciences in 1999 said the

standard should be made stricter " as promptly as possible. " President Bill

Clinton ordered the limit to be lowered to 10 parts per billion in 2006 and

scientists doubt if even this low level of concentration is safe [xvii].

References:

i. (http://www.agonist.org/story/2005/8/4/44118/79781)

ii. National Resources Defence Council. Ozonoff is chair of the Environmental

Health Program at Boston University School of Public Health and a nationally

known expert on drinking water and health issues

((http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/usci...)

iii. (http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke%5C29130.html)

iv. Drinking Water Act in 1996 banned plumbing devices with pure lead pipe but

still allows low levels of lead. Homes built before 1986 are more likely to have

lead pipes, fixtures and solder. However, new homes are also at risk: even

legally " lead-free " plumbing may contain up to 8 percent lead. The most common

problem is with brass or chrome-plated brass faucets and fixtures which can

leach significant amounts of lead into the water, especially hot water.

v. (http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead/index.html) Amendments made to the federal

Safe

vi. Detected contaminants include caffeine, which was the highest-volume

pollutant, codeine, cholesterol-lowering agents, anti-depressants, and Premarin,

an estrogen replacement drug taken by about 9 million women. Also chemotherapy

agents were found downstream from hospitals treating cancer patients. Final

results from the study are expected to be released in the fall. For additional

information about the U.S.G.S. study check the website:

(http://toxics.usgs.gov/regional/emc.html)

vii. Chloramine is a disinfectant put into many municipal water supplies. In

recent years it has often replaced chlorine for two main reasons. The first is

that it is much longer lasting, so it continues to provide a disinfectant action

in supply pipes, where chlorine typically loses its capacity to disinfect. The

second is that it does not react with organics nearly as readily as does

chlorine. The reaction products of chlorine and organics (chlorinated organics)

are very toxic to people, and water supply operators elect to use chloramine to

reduce this toxicity.

viii. Bollyn, . The Unhealthy Consequences of Chloraminated Water.

((http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/c...)

ix. ((http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...)

x. Sep 2004 ((http://www.watertechonline.com/News.asp...)

xi. (http://www.americanfreepress.net)

xii. US House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform

Hearing on the District of Columbia's Lead Contamination Experience

Statement of D. Schwartz, National Policy Coordinator, Clean Water Action

May 21, 2004. (http://www.dcwatch.com/wasa/040521i.htm)

xiii. From April 2 to May 8 of 2004, utility officials switched back to

chlorine, a yearly change intended to rinse bacteria from the pipes before

summer. During that time, officials said yesterday, lead level test results in

homes with lead service lines were 25 percent to 30 percent lower than they

would have predicted. ((http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar...)

xiv. ((http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar...)

xv. The weed killer atrazine affects the levels of a number of hormones needed

for normal development and function of the reproductive system, including

estrogen, prolactin, luteinizing hormone, and follicle stimulating hormone.

Atrazine has been linked to sexual malformations in frogs that were exposed to

water containing just 1/30th as much atrazine as the EPA regards as safe in

human drinking water. , . Popular weed killer atrazine feminizes

native frogs across Midwest, could be impacting amphibian populations worldwide

30 October 2002. University of Berkely.

((http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/rele...)

xvi. Nitrate in drinking water is also associated with increased risk for

bladder cancer, according to a University of Iowa (UI) study that looked at

cancer incidence among nearly 22,000 Iowa women. The study results suggest that

even low-level exposure to nitrates over many years could cause increases in

certain types of cancer, said Weyer, Ph.D., associate director of the UI

Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination (CHEEC) and one of the

study's lead authors. The study was published in the May 2001 issue of the

journal Epidemiology. " From a public health perspective, source water protection

is a main concern. Sources of nitrate which can impact water supplies include

fertilizers, human waste, and animal waste, " Weyer said. " All of us, rural and

urban residents alike, need to be more aware of how what we do as individuals

can impact our water sources and, potentially, our health. "

((http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/ndwc/articles/O...)

xvii. New York Times September 11, 2001

About the author

Mark A. Sircus Ac., OMD, is director of the International Medical Veritas

Association (IMVA)http://www.imva.info/. Dr. Sircus was trained in acupuncture

and oriental medicine at the Institute of Traditional Medicine in Sante Fe,

N.M., and in the School of Traditional Medicine of New England in Boston. He

served at the Central Public Hospital of Pochutla, in México, and was awarded

the title of doctor of oriental medicine for his work. He was one of the first

nationally certified acupuncturists in the United States. Dr. Sircus's IMVA is

dedicated to unifying the various disciplines in medicine with the goal of

creating a new dawn in healthcare.

He is particularly concerned about the effect vaccinations have on vulnerable

infants and is identifying the common thread of many toxic agents that are

dramatically threatening present and future generations of children. His book

The Terror of Pediatric Medicine is a free e-book one can read. Dr. Sircus is a

most prolific and courageous writer and one can read through hundreds of pages

on his various web sites.

He has most recently released his Survival Medicine for the 21st Century

compendium (2,200 page ebook) and just released the Winning the War Against

Cancer book. Dr. Sircus is a pioneer in the area of natural detoxification and

chelation of toxic chemicals and heavy metals. He is also a champion of the

medicinal value of minerals and is fathering in a new medical approach that uses

sea water and different concentrates taken from it for health and healing.

Transdermal Magnesium Therapy, his first published work, offers a stunning

breakthrough in medicine, an entirely new way to supplement magnesium that

naturally increases DHEA levels, brings cellular magnesium levels up quickly,

relieves pain, brings down blood pressure and pushes cell physiology in a

positive direction. Magnesium chloride delivered transdermally brings a quick

release from a broad range of conditions.

International Medical Veritas Association: http://www.imva.info/