Updated: 3/1/2019
Years into the water crisis, the residents of Flint, Michigan are still suffering the consequences of poor, perhaps criminal, decisions by their elected officials. Those consequences will last for the rest of the lives of the children whose brain development has been impaired by the lead in Flint’s water pipes. Society will suffer, too, from the behavioral problems many of the afflicted children will display.
Most of us are horrified as the Flint water story unfolds. But we may not be as horrified about the state of municipal water across the United States, virtually all of which contains toxic chemicals and residues of prescription drugs.
Here’s what you and your family are drinking if you’re drinking unfiltered municipal water:
Fluoride: Fluoride is toxic, pure and simple. Almost all municipal water systems are treated with fluoride, which is actually a toxic agricultural waste product. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms that one-third of American children have dental fluorosis (discolored teeth) caused by excess fluoride consumption. Excess fluoride consumption has also been linked to bone fractures, behavioral problems, hypothyroidism, bone cancer and reduced IQ in children.
Most important, fluoride is a toxic halogen that blocks the body’s ability to absorb and use iodine, a mineral that is essential for almost every body function, especially for brain development in young children.
Chlorine: Chlorine is in the same chemical family as fluorine (and fluoride) and it is universally added to municipal water. Chlorine has the same iodine-blocking effect as fluoride and many of the same effects. You won’t find municipal water that is not chlorinated, but you can install whole-house filters and shower filters. Also, if you drink bottle water, be sure it is spring water. Many brands of bottled water are nothing more than municipal water for which you are charged an arm and a leg.
Prescription drug residues: Traces of a wide variety of prescription drugs, including anti-depressants, sex-enhancing drugs, antibiotics and NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen) have been found in nearly all municipal drinking water sources. How do they get there? We’ll, let’s just say they pass through the human body and are not entirely eliminated in the filtration system. While these are trace amounts of drugs, we don’t know the long-term effect of drinking water that contains them or how or even if they are ever eliminated form the human body.
Unfortunately, reverse osmosis is the only type of home filtration system that eliminates drug residues. It is expensive and wasteful of water–using as much as nine gallons of water to create one gallon of clean water.
How do we protect ourselves?
The easy answer is to buy a place in the country that has a well and is far away from any farming or industrial operations. I realize that is not easy or practical for many of us.
Second best is to install a high-quality whole house filtration system at a cost of something like $1,500. It’s a worthwhile investment for a wide number of reasons, but the cost may be prohibitive for many.
A third and affordable option that may be feasible for many of us: Get a shower filter (remember, water and all of its components are absorbed through the skin, the body‘s largest organ). Decent filters cost about $55. Get bottled spring water for your drinking and cooking needs at a cost of about $10 or less for five gallons.
Water is the stuff of life. Without it, we can’t survive more than a few days. Make sure your water is the best can you get for you and your family.
