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Life Without Pure Water
The Health Effects Of Drinking
Water Contamination
"U.S. drinking water contains
more than 2100
toxic chemicals that can cause cancer. "
~
Ralph Nader Research Institute
"Drinking water plants are old and out
of date‚ and
water supplies are increasingly threatened by and
contaminated by chemicals and
microorganisms."
~ Natural Resources
Defense Council
The
following report from Aquasana
summarizes factual information on tap water quality
and its effect on human health:
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"Our hope is that you will take a
moment and
review this valuable information and consider the facts. We are not
trying to scare you, we are only trying to inform you of the threats to
our environment and health that were the driving force behind the
formation of our company. Increased awareness of this serious issue can
only benefit us all.
"We also hope
that you will review the
product information offered on Aquasana Pure Water Systems, the highest
rated home water filtration products in America. After reading this
page you can tour the rest of our site for additional topics of
interest or visit our 'Factory Direct' product catalog for great
savings on Aquasana purchases. Once you have all the facts, the
decision is easy. Even if you don't buy one of our water filters,
please buy one, there is no such thing as a bad water filter. Everyone
deserves pure water. Thank you for
coming this far!
"The causes of tap water contamination are many, ranging from
agricultural runoff to improper use of household chemicals and
everything in between. Few of us realize the extent or impact of these
low level synthetic chemicals in the water we use. While the standard
use in our society of over 80‚000 different synthetic chemicals has
offered added convenience and productivity in our lives‚ it has also
come at a tremendous price...drastic increases in degenerative
disease.
"In the early 1900s‚ before chlorine‚
pesticides‚
herbicides and the
tens of thousands of other chemicals that we are exposed to every day‚
the average American had a 1 in 50 chance of getting cancer‚ today 1 in
3 can expect to get cancer in their lifetime‚ 1 in every 2 males.
"Our use of man-made chemicals has become
so extreme
that we can
now find traces of these low level SOCs (synthetic organic chemicals)
in virtually every public water supply around the world. A recent
report by the Ralph Nader Study Group‚ after reviewing over 10‚000
documents acquired through the Freedom Of Information Act‚ confirmed
that 'U.S. drinking water contains more than 2100 toxic chemicals
that can cause cancer.'
"We've learned that any chemical we use
in our
society, will eventually
wind up in our water supplies. There is no "new" water! Our planet
re-uses the same water over and over. And as our use of SOCs increases,
so does the toxicity of our water. Earth's natural filtration process
is not effective at removing these toxic SOCs... nor is municipal water
treatment. Industry, agriculture and individuals... all contribute to
the problem. Many of the contaminants found in water can be traced back
to improper or excessive use of ordinary compounds like lawn chemicals‚
gasoline, drycleaning solvents and cleaning products.
"Once we realize that everything that
goes down the
drain‚ on our
lawns‚ on our agricultural fields or into the environment by any
means... eventually winds up in the water we drink‚ we begin to see
just how vulnerable our water supplies really are.
"Our municipal water treatment facilities
do
not remove SOCs
and typically only consist of sand bed filtration and disinfection‚
much like a standard swimming pool filter. For the most part‚ today‘s
water treatment facilities are much the same as they were at the turn
of the century: filter out the visible particles and add bleach!
"Many illnesses that in the past could
not be linked
to a probable cause have now been linked to toxins in our drinking
water.
'While
levels of these carcinogens (SOCs) in drinking water are low, it is
precisely these low levels that carcinogenists believe to be
responsible
for the majority of human cancers in the U.S.'
U.S. Council On Environmental Quality
"The use of pesticides and herbicides has
become so
excessive that they are now commonly found in household tap water and
bottled water with alarming frequency.
"A 1998 study of 29 major U.S. cities by
the
Environmental Working Group
found that all 29 cities had traces of at least one weed killer in the
drinking water. The report titled "Weed Killers By The Glass" went on
to say that 'Millions of Americans are routinely exposed to one or
more pesticides in a single glass of tap water.'
"These first ever 'tap water testings'
found two or
more pesticides in
the drinking water of 27 of the 29 cities‚ three or more in 24 cities‚
four or more in 21 cities‚ five or more in 18 cities‚ six or more in 13
cities and seven or more pesticides in the tap water of 5 major U.S.
cities. In Fort Wayne‚ Indiana‚ nine different pesticides were
found in a single glass of tap water!
"As a startling side note‚ it was
reported that in
these 29
cities‚ 45‚000 infants drank formula mixed with tap water containing
weed killers and that 'over half of these infants were swallowing 4
to 9 chemicals in every bottle!'
"The tragic health effects of consuming
these highly
toxic chemicals are
magnified many times over for small children because their systems are
more sensitive and still developing. Small children also consume a much
larger volume of fluids per pound of body weight and therefore get a
bigger dose‚ yet none of these factors are considered when the EPA‘s
maximum contaminant levels are set. The National Academy of Sciences
issued a report in 1993 on this subject and stated 'children
are not little adults' and their bodies are less developed
and simply incapable of detoxifying certain harmful compounds."
"Another major flaw in the estimated
risks of
chemicals in our drinking
water is the false assumption that only that one chemical is being
consumed. The regulations are set based on what is assumed safe for a
175 pound adult drinking water with only one chemical present and does
not take into account the combined toxicity of two or more chemicals.
"In a 1995 Science Advisory Report to the
EPA‚ it was
stated that 'when two or more of these contaminants combine in our
water the potency may be increased by as much as 1000 times!'
"It has been shown that areas with the
highest levels
of these SOCs in
their water supplies also have the highest incidence of cancer.
"Jacquelyn Warren of the Natural
Resources Defense
Council commented on this subject‚ 'The one thing we know for sure
about toxins in our drinking water is that the more we look the more we
find.' "
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Water Filtration
In
recent years, home water filtration units have gained wide
spread popularity. As
the logical, most convenient and economical solution for high quality,
pure
water, water filtration units offer many benefits over tap water and
bottled
water. Many recent events, like Washington D.C.'s lead announcement and
New York City's copepod scare have created new levels of awareness
about the need for home water filters.
Home water filtration offers higher
quality and more pure water than bottled water and
the convenience of tap. For less than 10 cents a gallon you can have
great tasting, healthy, chemical free, pure water for drinking,
preparation
of beverages and cooking... all at the touch of a button!
Unlike bottled water, home water
filtration units
are required to
document the purity of the water they produce. In many states,
including CA, WI, MA, IA, TX, FL & NY it is unlawful to make
uncertified claims for home water filters. This strict regulation
allows consumers a means for accurately comparing and substantiating a
water filter's performance capabilities. Certain states, California
being the strictest, require manufacturers to have all promotional,
advertising, websites and packaging materials reviewed by the
Department Of Health for accuracy prior to certification. The
California Certification is one of the best ways to determine a
product's performance capabilities.
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Bottled water, on the other hand, is
virtually
unregulated. The
FDA governs bottled water and only requires it to be as good as tap,
not better! And the FDA regulations only apply if the bottled water is
transported across a state line. Most bottled water is bottled and sold
in the same state in order to avoid regulation and accountability.
The home water filtration
alternative is a
far better,
more economical and convenient way of getting truly healthy, pure water.
Aquasana,
the highest rated home water filter in America!
Drugs
in drinking water cause a frenzy with consumers
There has been much media focus on the
recent testing of major municipal water
supplies and the realization that most, if not all, contain numerous
prescription drugs and pharmaceuticals. These compounds obviously pose
significant health
concerns and should not be ingested.
The
question of the day is:
"Does Aquasana remove these
pharmaceuticals?"
While the answer is yes, it also calls for an
explanation. There are no
current test standards for "pharmaceutical" and therefore there are no
certifications offered for the removal of these contaminants.
However,
most good quality home water filters will filter them out. According to
the U.S. EPA, the vast majority of these compounds are Synthetic
Organic Chemicals (SOCs) and/or Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs).
Consumers should look for filters that are certified for VOCs, THMs and
Chloroform as these are representative of the vast majority of
prescription drugs. Aquasana is certified for all 3.
Drugs
get into our water supplies from recycled waste water and livestock
run-off. Standard municipal water treatment does not remove them and
therefore they are in most tap water and should be removed at the point
of use.
Drugs In
Drinking Water: A Shocking realization!
As
if we didn't have enough worries about the quality of our drinking
water, we now find that antibiotics, growth hormones and many
prescription drugs are being detected in our public and private water
systems.
It's not a very pleasant
thought, but on the average... about 10% of the water we drink has been
used before.
The same amount of water that
exists on this planet today... existed
millions of years ago... to the drop! There is no such thing as new
water. Our planet continuously recycles and re-uses this finite supply
of water. Only recently have we learned how fragile and finite our
water resources really are. We are finding traces of compounds in our
water that no one ever thought to look for before. We have finally
realized that any chemical used in our society will eventually wind up
in our drinking water
While the current focus by the
media on tap water problems has
raised long overdue concerns, it is not a new issue. In 1999, a
17-year-old West Virginia high school student, Ashley Mulroy, read a
report in a science magazine describing how European scientists had
recently discovered that "drugs of all kinds, including
antibiotics, were flowing in rivers, streams, ground water and even in
tap water"
and decided to embark on a science project of her own. Over a ten-week
period Ashley and her mother drove for miles along the Ohio River
taking samples of the water from different sites. She then returned to
her hometown and had the samples tested for three common antibiotics:
penicillin, tetracycline and vancomycin... to her surprise she found
traces of all three in each of the samples she had taken. Ashley then
sampled tap water in three near by towns. All three, including water
from the drinking fountain at her school, were contaminated with the
antibiotics in question. Ashley was awarded several science project
awards and more importantly opened the eyes of many U.S. scientists.
Researchers from the U.S.
EPA and the National Geological Survey
have now found traces of antibiotics, birth control drugs,
anti-depressants and even caffeine in many water samples taken across
the country. Large animal farming operations and wastewater
treatment plants release billions of gallons of contaminated wastewater
into our environment every day. A large percentage of the drugs that
are given to humans and animals pass through the body and wind up in
this recycled wastewater and then in our drinking water.
As early as 2000, USA Today, in
a news release, stated that "experts
fear that even low levels of antibiotics fouling the nations water
supply may help create super-bugs: micro organisms that have evolved to
survive an antibiotic's lethal assault." And that these super-bugs may
be causing 'tens of thousands' of deaths each year in the U.S.A.,
according to Abigail Salyers, an expert on antibiotic resistance at the
University of Illinois.
Christian Daughton, a Chief of
Environmental Chemistry for the E.P.A., warns that "Water pollution
by drugs is a newly emerging issue."
The reality is that there is little information on the long term
effects of consuming low levels of antibiotics and growth hormones, but
everyone agrees that they will not be good.
Our public water treatment
plants are not designed to remove drugs
and other synthetic chemicals from our water. Without waiting for the
final verdict on the actual effects of drinking a mixture of drugs and
other chemicals... we can assume that they will be negative. The only
question is... how negative and why wait?
Most all prescription drugs and
pharmaceuticals are synthetic
organic chemicals (SOCs) and volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) and can
be filtered out with quality home water filtration. Look for systems
that are certified for the reduction of VOCs and THMs to address this
issue.
The only way to get truly
healthful drinking water is to make it yourself with point of use water
filtration.
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Aquasana Shower Filter
Shower filters offer surprising health
and cosmetic benefits to users
Voted "Product Of The Year", Aquasana
Pure Shower System!
“You’ll notice the
difference in your skin and hair
after the first time you use it!”
~ Rena Matthews, Editor
Cosmetology Today
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