MAXIMUM CONTAMINANT LEVEL ALLOWED IN U.S. DRINKING WATER: JoAnn Guest

[Guest guest]

MAXIMUM CONTAMINANT LEVEL ALLOWED IN U.S. DRINKING WATER:

JoAnn Guest

Apr 02, 2006 16:32 PDT

====================================================================

 

http://askbillsardi.com/sdm.asp?pg=drinking_water

 

Water, water, everywhere, but none fit to drink.

 

Less than 1 percent of the world's water is suitable for drinking.

About

80 percent of the world's diseases are linked to impure water.

 

Don't think modern man is immune from the effects of contaminated

water. Chlorine, one of the most toxic chemicals on the planet, when

added in small amounts to tap water, prevents the problem of typhoid

and

dysentery that still plague mankind in undeveloped populations.

 

But chlorine produces its own by-products when combined with organic

materials. These toxic chlorine by-products accumulate in organs

like

the kidneys or bladder that filter or store water.

 

The result is an increased risk of bladder and kidney cancer. Some

experts estimate more than 20,000 cases of these types of cancer

occur

annually from water chlorination.

 

If you drink tap water, and you don't filter out the chlorine at the

faucet, over the long haul you are exposing yourself to an avoidable

health risk. This is not to mention the problem of cryptosporidium,

a

nasty parasite which cannot be killed by chlorine and which has

contaminated various municipal water supplies, resulting in sickness

and

even death. Filter your tap water!

 

As for all that hype about distilled water, think again. Distilled

water

kills all the undesirable organisms, but it also removes essential

minerals, not only required for taste, but also for health

maintenance.

 

Tap water is softened by adding sodium, to replace calcium and

magnesium, so we will not have scum on our bathtub and our skin

after

showering, so that our water heaters won't develop sediment, and so

our

dishwashers and clothes washers will produce sudsy water. So tap

water is really designed for washing machines and water heaters, not

humans!!

 

We pay the price for drinking soft water with high blood pressure ---

a malady that strikes 50 million Americans.

 

We have so over-loaded our canned foods and water with sodium that

it is

nearly impossible to reduce salt consumption below 3000-4000

milligrams per day.

 

If Americans consumed less than 2300 milligrams of salt per day,

hypertension would probably cease to exist.

 

Filtering your water at the tap won't alter its mineral content.

Distilled water has no sodium, but it doesn't have any of the

electrolyte minerals, calcium and magnesium, that are so important

for

proper heart function and bone formation.

 

Drinking water without calcium and magnesium is asking for problems

like kidney stones, osteoporosis and even sudden death heart attack!

 

The best source of water is bottled spring water, that is, if you

can find a bottled mineral water that is low in sodium, rich in

magnesium, and balanced with calcium. That is really a difficult

task, one that has

led me on a worldwide search. To find out more, read my upcoming

book IN PURSUIT OF THE WORLD'S BEST WATER.

 

=====================================================================

EVEN GOOD CHOLESTEROL CAN BE BAD IF THE BODY'S DEHYDRATED

 

 

We know that cholesterol has many important jobs. It is necessary

for

making hormones, insulation for nerves, and the membranes of all our

cells. But in a condition of chronic dehydration, water is

constantly

being pulled out of our cells, for the body's many operations. To

protect the cells from losing too much water, cholesterol is poured

between the cracks of the cells, as a sort of protective sealant

between cell membranes. (Batmanghieldj, p 83)

 

Many people who eat a lot of eggs can still have normal blood

cholesterol, as long as they always have plenty of water. The body

only

feels the need to seal off the cell membranes with cholesterol if

there's a reason to conserve water. Thus high cholesterol. In the

hydrated body, there's no excess cholesterol production.

 

 

THIRST QUENCHERS

When we're thirsty, we don't drink water. We drink coffee and Coke

and

diet Dr. Pepper and ice tea and beer and milk and anything else

we've

been conditioned to buy. And we tell ourselves we don't need to

drink

water because all these beverages have water in them. Right?

 

Wrong. It's a long story, but the punchline is this: all these

drinks

are actually diuretics - they make the cells and the body lose water.

 

The sugar and caffeine in those drinks pull water out of the cells

in

order to maintain the delicate pH and electrolyte balance in the

blood.

 

Result: cell dehydration. Cell dehydration is the #1 cause of aging.

Also a big contributor to degenerative diseases, like arthritis,

hypertension, and diabetes.

 

One way to tell if you're dehydrated is to check the color of the

urine.

If it's dark all the time, you're probably dehydrated. It's a good

bet

that one of the above drinks is your beverage of choice.

 

Only one solution:

TWO LITERS A DAY

 

 

It's no picnic. Unless you already have this custom, drinking two

liters

of water a day takes effort. That's a least eight large glasses

full.

Every day. It takes planning and discipline. But it's cheap and

harmless, and if you have any health problem whatsoever, including

premature crowsfeet, you owe it to yourself to give this self-

evident

shotgun approach a try. In the unlikely event that it " doesn't work'

after two months, something else needs to be tweaked. Probably in

the

dairy or sugar category.

 

 

I know - you're thinking you'll be spending your life in the

bathroom if

you drink 2 liters a day, right? Funny thing is, the bladder is a

muscular organ. Like any other muscle, it weakens with inactivity

and

strengthens with use.

 

The more water you drink, the more the strength and capacity of the

bladder will increase. So very soon you won't have to make extra

trips

to the bathroom, even though you'll be drinking more water.

 

Think of all the people who dehydrate themselves just because they

wish

to avoid the bathroom. Where are our priorities? Where is our

education?

 

 

Water is cell life.

 

Two liters is the intake necessary to maintain normal good health.

If

you want to get into anti-aging applications, intake goes up to

THREE

liters. Obviously this is something you'd have to work up to. But

for

maximum hydration of skin cells, three is the number.

--

Do You Drink Living Water?

--

 

http://www.unhinderedliving.com/livingwater.html

 

Not only should we put the kind of food into our bodies that will

provide high quality fuel with few toxins, we also must of necessity

provide our bodies with clean water that is free of toxins. Living

water

is water that is free of toxins and contains nutrients that the body

requires for health.

 

Living water brings life to the body, while " dead " water brings

death

to the body. The EPA has set standards for only 7 of the 70,000

toxic

chemicals used in water treatment. However, only 50 of the 79,000

regulated public water systems in the United States use activated

carbon

filters.

 

Without activated carbon filters, the majority of chemical

contaminates

are not removed. What kind of chemical contaminants are we talking

about, and what are their effects?

 

In my opinion, the number one contaminant in water today is the

fluoride

added to our drinking water. It is causing serious and massive

health

problems in people who do not even suspect that it might be a cause.

In

addition, most physicians are unaware that fluoride poses

significant

health risks, even though numerous articles have appeared in

mainstream

medical journals during the last decade about fluoride's dangers,

and

the largest study of the effect of fluoride on children's teeth

showed

that use of fluoride did not significantly reduce cavities.

 

According to the book Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products,

fluoride is more poisonous than lead, and only slightly less

poisonous

than arsenic. The US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease

Registry

has classified fluoride in the top 20 substances most dangerous to

human

health.

 

Even extremely small amounts of fluoride can damage the immune

system,

inhibit the action of enzymes, create arthritic conditions or

encourage

pre-existing ones, and cause dental fluorosis in children.

 

Fluoride has been shown to have a direct relationship to depression

and

symptoms of hyperthyroidism.

 

It also has the ability to transform normal cells to cancer cells.

This

has been confirmed by research. It is also a cumulative toxin,

meaning

it is stored in the body until it reaches levels toxic enough to

effect

health (and it doesn't take long to reach that level).

 

What is fluoride exactly? It is derived from the element fluorine,

which

is a corrosive, yellow gas.

 

For this reason, when it is found in nature it is always combined

with

minerals. It is considered an environmental pollutant, a by-product

of

the aluminum, steel, phosphate-fertilizer, glass, cement and other

industries.

 

The dumping of this substance into the environment in the past

caused

the destruction of crops and animals, and many lawsuits ensued.

However,

in an interesting turn of events, the public was convinced that

fluoride

was a valuable and necessary nutrient, and instead of dumping this

lethal compound into the environment, they began dumping it into the

water supply. It saved them millions of dollars.

 

Even though most chemical contaminants, such as chlorine, are

removed by

an activated charcoal filter, fluoride is NOT removed without a

reverse-osmosis type filter. The concentration in water is supposed

to

be only 1 ppm (parts per million). However, in toothpaste it is 1000

ppm

and in fluoride dental rinses it is 10,000 ppm. So not only should

fluoridated water be avoided, but any fluoridated dental product.

 

Lead is another extremely potent poison. The EPA estimates that 40

million Americans have excess lead in their drinking water, and it

has

been estimated that 60 to 80 percent of all cancers are the result

of

toxic chemicals in our air, water, and food.

 

Lead poisoning can result in birth defects, mental retardation, high

blood pressure, hyperactivity, and other brain and nervous system

problems. According to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Institute

of

Agriculture and Natural Resources, a dosage of lead which would have

little effect on an adult can have a huge effect on a child, so

children, infants, and fetuses are the most vulnerable. Infants who

receive formula get 40 to 60 percent of their lead intake from the

water

mixed with the formula.

 

Also, children who are in periods of rapid growth absorb any lead

present in their diet more rapidly than anyone else would. Often,

the

symptoms of lead poisoning are mistaken for flu or other common

illnesses. Sometimes, there are no symptoms at all.

 

Among the chemicals used in the treatment of water are chlorine and

alum

(form of aluminum). Autopsy reports on Alzheimer's patients found

70%

more aluminum in the brain than that of someone that did not suffer

from

Alzheimer's.

 

Alum contributes to aluminum toxicity, which has been identified as

a

possible contributor to Alzheimer's disease. Of course, there is no

EPA

standard for aluminum.

 

Many are sensitive to chlorine and become ill when consuming it

through

the water faucet. Furthermore, chlorine is know to react with

organic

compounds, forming THM (trihalomethanes), which are known to cause

various types of cancer.

 

Drinking tap water has been linked to bladder cancer in 10 out of

the 11

studies researched on this subject. Also, the combination of

chlorine

and cholesterol in the diet (not cholesterol by itself) has been

linked

to increased heart problems.

 

So, it is obvious that we want to avoid unfiltered water. It is

preferable to have a system that uses both activated charcoal and

reverse osmosis.

 

What validation is there for the claims I have made? Here are some

links

that you can read for yourselves. Each link contains many more that

you

can follow, and I hope you will.

 

Toxic Chemicals in Your Water

Coronaries/Cholesterol/Chlorine - By Dr. Joseph M. Price, M.D.

 

Environmental Research Foundation - Dangers of Chlorine in Water

Canada - Scientific Proofs of the Dangers of Chlorine

Drinking Water Contaminants

The Dangers of Fluoride and Fluoridation - Michael Schacter, M.D.

Hidden Dangers in Your Drinking Water and Toothpaste

Scientific Facts on the Biological Effects of Fluorides

 

There is much more that I could have included. I hope you will see

just

how dangerous these contaminants can be, and will avoid them.

 

Now....assuming you are able to purify your water to the point that

it

is safe to drink.....you should add to it some ionic trace minerals.

The

reason is, water that does not contain minerals leaches minerals

from

your body.

 

Water should be " living " , not devoid of nutrition. Why? Because all

water that exists in nature contains some kind of minerals. Not

colloidal, those cannot pass through the cell membrane because of

their

size....only minerals dissolved in ionic solution can pass back and

forth through the cell membrane freely.

 

How much water should we drink? Take your weight, divide by two, and

this will tell you the MINIMUM number of ounces to drink per day.

The

more you weigh, the more water you need to drink.

 

I hope you will choose to drink living water, the only kind of water

that can nurture your body.

 

===================================================================

Fluoridation / Fluoride --Toxic Chemicals In Your Water

http://www.holisticmed.com/fluoride/

--

Fluoride compounds which are put in water (fluoridation), toothpaste

and

supplement tablets (including some vitamins) were never tested for

safety before approval. Recent independent research by scientists

not

associated with dental trade organizations has shown the following:

 

Neurotoxic and Lowers IQ

 

In 1995, neurotoxicologist and former Director of toxicology at

Forsyth

Dental Center in Boston, Dr. Phyllis Mullenix published research

showing

that fluoride built up in the brains of animals when exposed to

moderate

levels.

 

Damage to the brain occured and the behavior patterns of the animals

was

adversely effected. Offspring of pregnant animals receiving

relatively

low doses of fluoride showed permanent effects to the brain which

were

seen as hyperactivity (ADD-like symptoms).

 

Young animals and adult animals given fluoride experienced the

opposite

effect -- hypoactivity or sluggishness. The toxic effects of

fluoride on

the central nervous system was subsequently confirmed by

previously-classified government research.

 

Two new epidemiological studies which tend to confirm fluoride's

neurotoxic effects on the brain have shown that children exposed to

higher levels of fluoride had lower IQs.

 

source: EPA National Primary Drinking Water Standards ( July 1987)

ARSENIC _______ 50 PARTS PER BILLION

LEAD___________15 PARTS PER BILLION

FLUORIDE _____4000 PARTS PER BILLION

 

Remember this citation: " Fluoride is more poisonous than lead, and

just

less poisonous than arsenic. "

- Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products - 1984

 

What's wrong with this picture?

 

---

The tap water in this country seems to have a few problems:

---

organochlorines

fluoride

PCBs

THMs

heavy metals

resistant biologicals

 

You'd think that since we created the problem, we could fix it.

 

But even if Greenpeace or someone took over the government of the

world

tomorrow and stopped all further pollution tonnage, it would be

years,

decades before the water would be like it was before the Industrial

Revolution.

 

These contaminants will be around for centuries. By now everyone

knows

what the concept of half-life means. Different data sources,

different

time frames, but one thing is certain: the water cannot be cleaned

up in

our lifetime, no matter what is done.

Writing a sentence like that is a shocker. Where is my ninja team?

 

So what can we do?

 

Don't drink the tap water for starters. But does that also mean

don't

wash vegetables, make ice cubes, or cook with tap water?

 

Yes, it does, because heat doesn't destroy fluoride, heavy metals,

or

other contaminants. Remember the word bioaccumulative.

- L. Alesen, MD, president of the California Medical Association

Robotry, p14

" Fluoridation is the greatest fraud that has ever been perpetrated

and

it has been perpetrated on more people than any other fraud has. "

- Albert Schatz, PhD Nobel Laureate for discovering streptomycin

quoted in Sutton's Fluoridation:The Greatest Fraud

 

" More people have died in the last 30 years from cancer connected

with

fluoridation than all the military deaths in the entire history of

the

United States. "

 

- Dean Burk, PhD National Cancer Institute--Fluoridation:A Burning

Controversy

 

Why do we never hear any of this?

--

IT ISN'T JUST THE WATER

---

Adding fluoride to the drinking water causes bioaccumulation in our

cells, year after year. If fluoride is in the water, it's

everywhere:

growing vegetables and fruit

washing vegetables and fruit

in the meat of animals who have drunk fluoridated water

 

in toothpaste

 

in canned foods

 

in processed foods

 

in soft drinks

 

in beer

 

A 1998 laboratory analysis done at Sequoia Analytical Labs in

California

showed very high concentrations of fluoride in the following foods:

 

Dole pineapple, canned

-

Snapple

-

Coke Classic

-

Hansen's soda

-

Minute Maid orange juice

-

Gerber strawberry juice for babies

-

Amstel Lite beer

-

Rice Dream

-

Sunny Delight orange drink

-

Pepsi

 

Another analysis done in 1998 by Jupiter Environmental Labs in

Florida

showed similar findings:

 

food..................fluoride in PPM (parts per million)

 

 

 

Gerber White Grape juice____ 3.5

Gatorade_________________________.44

Diet Coke_______________________1.12

Lipton Ice Tea___________________.58

Sprite___________________________.73

Hawaiian Punch___________________.85

 

 

Last one for now. A study in the Journal of Clinical Pediatric

Dentistry:

food ----------------fluoride in PPM (parts per million)

 

Welch's 100% Grape juice_____2.6

Ocean Spray Cranapple________1.8

Hi-C Apple-grape_____________1.16

Minute Maid Grape____________1.25

Minute Maid White Grape______3.0

Gerber's White Grape_________6.8

 

 

And it's not just the juices: Froot Loops cereal was found to have

2.1

ppm by Expert Chemical Analysis of San Diego.

 

These are just a few examples of fluoride levels in some common

grocery

store items consumed by most Americans. The point is that there's an

notable fluoride content in many, if not the majority of processed

foods

in our refrigerators and pantries.

 

That's not mentioning our fruits and vegetables, even if they're

" organic' but grown with city water.

 

---

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. It is likely that such

filters get rid of most of the chlorine - for awhile.

 

But to really get the resistant biologicals, the fluoride, heavy

metals, and other contaminants, the customer may consider one of the

high-end drinking water filters. These cost between two and four

hundred

dollars and come in models for both over and under the sink.

 

Names like Alpine, MultiPure, and Spectrapure are among the dozens

of

brand names that have come along during the past 20 years. Multipure

seems to be far out front at this time. Everyone claims to be the

best,

of course, but we can find some important similarities in their

advertising.

 

When you begin to compare the better water filters, you notice

common

concerns:

chlorine

THMs

chloriform

chloramines

cryptosporidium and giardia lamblia cysts

fluoride

pesticides and toxic chemicals

heavy metals

minerals

MTBEs

nitrates

Killing microbials is not a big deal since most of that's been done

by

chlorine. Most contaminants are removed by the better filters. The

problem when choosing a filter seems to come down to four main

concerns:

 

 

fluoride, minerals, THMs, and nitrates.

 

Difficult to find one filter that does everything: many reverse

osmosis

filters take out most contaminants, but also the healthy minerals.

 

Many of the high-end carbon filters will not remove fluoride or

nitrates, but leave the healthy minerals.

 

Fluoride is obviously a biggie. 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?

 

Problem is: the demand. Due to fluoridiot propaganda, most

Americans don't even realize fluoride is bad, and therefore don't

think

about it when considering a water filter.

 

NSF is a third-party non-profit testing agency that has been rating

water filters for the past 50 years. Always ask - is it NSF-

certified?

For what? Don't be fooled if they say " NSF-tested.' Big difference.

 

Minerals is an area of some controversy. You've got the hard water /

soft water debate.

 

Hard water has more minerals in it, which obviously

is better for the bones and teeth, and probably for the heart as

well.

 

That makes sense, although as we saw in the Minerals chapter,

elemental

minerals are the least absorbed of all types. Elemental means from

rocks, and that's the kind that would be in spring water, and

therefore

in filtered water, except for reverse osmosis. In my opinion, hard

water

is better than distilled.

 

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 Dr. Y 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 that was

attributed to the glacial mineral waters they drank, one can see the

value of minerals in drinking water.

 

A high-end water filter should take this discussion into

consideration

and give reasons about the importance or unimportance of filtering

out

certain minerals.

 

Comes down to a choice: reverse osmosis or carbon block. With

reverse

osmosis you've got no fluoride filtration, no minerals, and wasting

about 4-9 gallons to get one gallon of pure water. (A'o, p72) With

most

high-end carbon mesh filters, you can get rid of everything but

fluoride, and you'll still have minerals.

 

These are questions for the filter sales force. Make " em dance for

you.

Caveat emptor - only 5 states have any regulations about what water

filter manufacturers can say. On the Internet - it's a total jungle!

 

There is one excellent little book which can save a lot of research

time: Don't Drink the Water. The author goes into great detail in

comparing the attributes and quality of the basic filter units. He

points out the advantages of placing a KDF filter before the carbon

filter in order to insure that bacteria won't begin to grow within

the

carbon. Bottom line in my opinion, if you want to solve the whole

filtration

question, just buy a Multipure and put in under the sink. (1 831 763

1967) Next problem.

 

 

THE REST OF THE ICEBERG

 

Sorry if this chapter has been Information Overload. The materials

cited

really only scratch the surface of the research that has been done

in

these areas. The purpose of the chapter has been to acquaint the

reader

with some of the basic issues in regard to drinking water, issues

which

are systematically hidden from the media, for obvious reasons.

 

Prove them wrong, if you can; just don't pretend like these problems

don't exist. When you read something that proclaims the purity of

tap

water or the importance of fluoride, maybe now you will notice how

studies are claimed but never cited. Look behind what you read and

try

to see the persuasive tactics of Freud's nephew. Appreciate the

mastery

of an art.

 

The physiological importance of hydration has really been glossed

over

by doctors and nutritionists, not on purpose, but simply because

it's

not taught. The ideas of Dr. Batmanghelidj must be confronted -

either

he's right or else there's a major gap in our health information.

It's unfortunate that the sludge of politics has to be hauled into a

discussion of water purity. But once you discover how and why our

water

got this way, the political influences are like an elephant in the

living room - pretty hard to ignore. Not exactly hot news; politics

has

been controlling science ever since they locked Galileo in that

high-rise jail for discovering the earth went around the sun. Which

is

why you shouldn't expect much support if you try to discuss or

substantiate what you've just learned in this chapter. Lemmings know

what lemmings are told.

 

The rest of the iceberg is left to you. This chapter is just the

briefest glimpse of the top part.

 

With a little follow-up, perhaps you won't make the same mistake the

captain of the Titanic made: thinking that there's nothing in the

water

that can hurt you.

 

DELAYED REACTION

Tim O'Shea

thedoctorwithin.com

 

As California Medical Association president Dr. Alesen points out,

concentration in parts per million sidesteps the issue, regarding

something that accumulates in the body year after year. The EPA is

comparing fluorine to vitamins, for which there are minimum daily

requirements. But vitamins are completely used up in a day or less.

They don't accumulate. In addition, setting an arbitrary level of 1

PPM

fluoride in the drinking water provides for a wide variation in

toxicity: some people drink half a glass of water per day, while

others

drink two liters.

 

This idea is a very big deal when you're talking about

something that never goes away in the body.

 

Fluoride poisoning can be disguised - diseases like skeletal

fluorosis may take 25 or 30 years to appear, since accumulation of

fluoride in the bones is slow and gradual. (Shortt)

_________________

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets