Chlorine in Drinking Water Isn’t the Only Contaminant to Worry About

Source : http://howdoigetoffdrugs.com/2010/01/chlorine-in-drinking-water-isnt-the-only-contaminant-to-worry-about/

As if the chlorine in drinking water wasn’t bad enough, now we’ve learned about drugs found in drinking water too. What else are we going to have to worry about?

The news reports and public health officials assure us that these drug traces are not health hazards. Yes, it is true; you don’t see people dying from those traces, but you also don’t see people dying from chlorine in drinking water. What’s worrying is the long-term effect that these chemicals have on cells in the body.

Natural health advocates have always maintained that chemical pollutants in our environment cause obesity, cancer, and various chronic health problems. Many of these chemicals act like hormones in the body, interfering with natural hormone production and increasing the risk of certain types of cancer.

One of the drugs found in drinking water is estradiol, a form of estrogen. It gets into the water supply through birth control pills. When women take them, some of the hormones are not metabolized by the body and pass through as waste. So, these hormones enter the sewage system and end up in wastewater treatment facilities where no steps are taken to remove it.

Environmentalists have been concerned about estrogen and other contaminants for many years, because of the effect it has on fish and wildlife. They argue that fish mutations in the Chesapeake Bay and the Mississippi River delta are caused by contaminants.

Regular people are often uninformed about today’s environmental issues; newspapers rarely publish environmental stories on the front page. But drugs found in drinking water make headlines all over the country. In one interview, an Italian researcher talked about the combined effect of chlorine in drinking water and drugs found in drinking water. Chemicals like these interact, increasing the toxicity of each. His wife was pregnant at the time of the interview. He said that they had agreed that she should only drink purified water, at least until after the baby was born.

In some of the studies that he had conducted, the combination of prescription medications caused interesting changes in cell cultures. They inhibited the growth of healthy cells and increased the growth of cancer cells.

Because of the chlorine in drinking water, we already have an increased cancer risk. This has been proven in a number of different studies. People that are not exposed to chlorination have a lower incidence of bladder and colorectal cancer. Luckily, we can protect ourselves from these risks. A home purification system is the solution.

Not all systems will remove the drugs found in drinking water. A dual stage system that specializes in chemical reduction is the most effective. Any carbon filter will remove the chlorine in drinking water, but other steps are needed to ensure your safety. Buy a system that thoroughly cleans your tap water. It’s worth it.