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| Detox Strategies - Water |
Explore The Fluoride Action Network's research on the dangers of fluoridated water. |
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Key Subtraction Strategy: Get the Purest Water
- Finding the cleanest water is one of the most important Subtraction
Strategies a person facing a serious illness can employ because most public
water supplies contain known contaminants. Part of the subtraction process
involves making sure Fluoride and Chlorine are eliminated from the
household water so the bodily organs can function uncompromised.
The Environmental Working Group Organization (www.ewg.org) reports that
the states, under the mandate of the Safe Water and Drinking Water Act,
compiled 260 contaminants as being detected in drinking water between
1998 and 2003. Of those 260 contaminants, 141 contaminants were found
to have no safety standards which means that they were unregulated
contaminants. 119 other contaminants that were found were regulated did
have safety standards.
The body's water supply is responsible for and involved in nearly every
bodily process, including digestion, absorption, circulation and excretion.
Water is also the primary transporter of nutrients throughout the body and
so is necessary for all building functions in the body.
One regulated contaminant to consider subtracting is Fluoride.
The EPA standard for fluoride in the water has just been reviewed, and
fluoride is also the subject of a new study.
The National Academies' National Research Council reviewed the EPA's
standard for fluoride - a maximum of 4 milligrams of fluoride per liter of
drinking water - and made the following findings in a report in March 2006:
Children exposed to the current maximum allowable concentration risk
developing severe tooth enamel fluorosis, a condition characterized by
discoloration, enamel loss, and pitting of the teeth. Plus, the committee
found that people who consume water containing that much fluoride over a
lifetime are likely at increased risk for bone fracture. Conclusion: The
maximum level of fluoride allowed in the water does not protect against
adverse health effects.
Fluoride's carcinogenic potential is explored in a new study. Boys who drink
water with levels of fluoride considered safe by federal guidelines are five
times more likely to have a rare bone cancer called osteosarcoma than boys
who drink unfluoridated water.(See Bassin E., et al., Age-Specific Fluoride
Exposure in Drinking Water and Osteosarcoma, Cancer Causes and Control
2006.)
One unregulated contaminant to consider subtracting is Perchlorate.
In March 2006, the Environmental Working Group Organization reported that
perchlorate has contaminated the water and soil in at least 35 states, but the
EPA has no timetable to set a national standard - the maximum contaminant
level (MCL) - for perchlorate.
Perchlorate, the explosive ingredient in solid rocket fuel, is a thyroid toxin.
Groundbreaking research has found the perchlorate in lettuce, supermarket
milk, and human milk. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
(NHANES) in 2005 found perchlorate in the urine of every one of 61 Atlanta
residents tested, even though the levels in the water there were very low.
The EWG is calling for the EPA to set national standards for perchlorate.
Also, the EWG notes that many water companies are switching away from
chlorine as a disinfectant - which yields byproducts like trihalomethanes - to
other products as disinfectants. Trihalomethanes pose problems. According
to the EPA, an excess of trihalomethanes over the MCL may cause people
to experience liver, kidney, central nervous problems, and may even cause
cancer. And now these alternate disinfectant chemicals or mixtures of
disinfectants themselves are unstudied for disinfectant byproducts. Other
problems with water include lead leaching into the water from the pipes in
houses.
Exploring Types of Drinking Water:
- Have your tap water tested to ensure that it is safe to drink. In addition
to tap water, there are many different types of drinking water to
explore and no easy solutions. If you do choose to drink water out of
plastic bottles, use heavy plastic bottles that are less likely to leach,
those bottles with a triangle on the bottom with the number 2.
- Boiling Water: Boiling water long enough in an emergency may kill
pathogens, but the process of boiling the water may result in the
concentration of some of the harmful contaminants.
- Spring Water: Springs occur where water-laden rock layers (aquifers)
reach the surface. Water will flow from a well whose head is below the
water table.
- Mineral Water: Mineral water is water containing minerals or other
dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value.
Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that
can be dissolved in the water. Mineral water can often be effervescent.
- Distilled Water: Distilled water is water that has had virtually all of its
impurities removed through distillation (boiling the water and re-
condensing the steam into liquid water). The drinking of distilled water
has been both advocated and discouraged for the purported effect of
drinking water in its pure form is a more powerful solvent that helps
cleanse toxins from the body. Detractors argue that it robs the body of
essential minerals in this way and also deprives it of minerals normally
acquired from drinking water.
- Reverse Osmosis: A reverse osmosis unit substantially reduces most
suspended and dissolved matter from water. Contaminants are
removed by forcing water through a membrane having microscopic
holes that allow water molecules, but not larger compounds, to pass
through. Water flushes away the contaminants held by the
membrane. Membranes are made of a variety of materials that differ
in effectiveness for different chemicals. Although reverse osmosis
removes many organic chemicals, it does not remove all. For
instance, it will not remove chloroform. And it does not remove 100%
of all chemicals.
These statements have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. The
supplements discussed are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
This website is intended as information only. The editors of this site are not medically-trained.
Please consult your licensed health care practitioner before implementing any health strategy.
The information provided on this site is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that
exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her existing physician. This site accepts no
advertising. The contents of this site copyrighted 2004-2013 by Breast Cancer Choices, Inc.
Contact us with comments or for reprint permission at: admin@breastcancerchoices.org
Web page updated January 2013.
