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Water..Essential
To Optimum Health And Life 2/3 Of Your Body Weight Is Water (40-50 quarts) Lungs...86% Blood...83% Kidneys...83% Brain...75% Heart...75% Muscle...75% Liver...96% Water is second only to oxygen in importance to health It makes up 65-75 % of the body, and every cell requires water to perform its essential functions. Water maintains system equilibrium, lubricates, flushes wastes and toxins, hydrates the skin, regulates body temperature, acts as a shock absorber for joints, bones, and muscles, adds needed minerals, and transports nutrients, minerals, vitamins, proteins and sugars for assimilation. When the body gets enough water, it works at its peak. Fluid and sodium retention decrease, gland and hormone functions improve, the liver breaks down and releases more fat, and hunger is curtailed. To maintain this wonderful internal environment, you must drink plenty of water every day - at least 6 to 8 glasses to replace lost electrolytes and metabolic waste fluid. Thirst is a evolutionary development designed to indicate severe dehydration. You can easily lose a quart or more of water during activity before thirst is even recognized. The thirst signal also shuts off before you have had enough for well-being. You have to pay conscious attention to getting enough water every day. Drinks loaded with dissolved sugars or milk increase water needs instead of satisfying them. Only plain or carbonated water is the best way to replace lost body fluid. Water is one of the most essential elements of good health. Although you can live without food for days or even weeks, a persons' survival depends on drinking water. Health officials emphasize the importance of drinking at least eight glasses of clean water each and every day. The quality of your drinking water can be measured by its desirability. You will drink as much water as your body needs if your water smells good, tastes good and has a clean appearance. Unfortunately, most of our tap water today has been treated to the point where it can be an irritating, disagreeable fluid instead of a valuable benefit. Regular city tap water has been found to contain as many as 500 different disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and parasites, while many toxic chemicals and heavy metals used by industry and agriculture has been detected in some of our ground water sources. Bottled water is the fastest growing beverage in the marketplace. One out of 18 families in the US buys bottled water. But, many bottled waters have been found to be simply processed water using distillation, reverse osmosis, de-ionization or filtration. With more than 700 brands of bottled water available in the US, around 80% have been found to be processed waters. Is bottled water a healthy water? Laboratory tests have discovered that some bottled waters contained more Trihalomethanes (Chlorine by-products) than surface and ground waters. Needless to say, bottled waters should be totally free of contaminants and chemical pollutants. This is not always the case. The Federal Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 established the U.S Environmental Protection Agency as the agency responsible for setting standards for drinking water and monitoring the public water utilities. The EPA has established Federally enforceable standards for less than 100 contaminants that may be found in your drinking water. But,in a report commissioned by Ralph Nader, at least 2,110 contaminants have been identified in the nation's water supplies. Lately, several cities have issued warnings to their citizens to boil their drinking water due to contamination with disease-causing microbes. A few years ago (1993) in Milwaukee, about 400,000 residents became sick from Cryptosporidium, a water-borne parasite. Of those, 100 died. Cryptosporidium cannot even be destroyed by chlorination. According to the Natural resources Defense Council, the water of over 100 million Americans is probably contaminated with cancer-producing chemicals that are the by-product of Chlorine. Microscopic Organisms: Cysts, Cryptosporidium, Giardia Lamblia Cryptosporidium is carried by young livestock. Sewage runoff washes the eggs or cysts into rivers and lakes where most municipalities get their water. The cysts are not only hard to detect with the usual tests, they are also not killed by standard chlorine dosages. Chlorine By-Products (Trihalomethanes) Concerns have been raised about the chemical chlorine used to disinfect our drinking water. Although chlorine has been successful in almost eliminating cholera and typhoid fever, reports (American Journal of Public Health, July,1992) have linked chlorine by-products (THMs) to Cancer. Lead Contamination and Asbestos (Pipes) Even if the water were absolutely clean and safe at the processing plant, it could become contaminated traveling through the distribution system. Lead is known to leach into water from the plumbing in our homes as well as from the municipal distribution system. Until recently lead solder was used to connect the copper pipes. Other Problems Affecting Our Water Supply • Pesticide
and herbicide spraying
The anthrax events that followed the September 11, 2001 tragedy virtually crippled the U.S. postal system and put the lives of postal workers and many Americans at risk. The intense media coverage that followed, fueled the fire to the point where many even purchased gas masks in fear of a possible biological attack. While we still maintain caution when going to the mailbox, we turn on the water faucet without the slightest bit of uncertainty. While anthrax appeared to be targeted to a handful of high profile individuals, contaminated water supplies can affect everyone of us. We don't have to wait for a terrorist to poison our water supplies, it's continually being poisoned and little is being done to stop it. 400,000 Sick...100 Die From Drinking Water Containing Microscopic Parasites In 1993 about 400,000 Milwaukee residents became sick from Cryptosporidium, a waterborne parasite. Of those, 100 people died. Chlorination cannot kill this microbe. Further, turning to bottled water may not solve the problem since bottle water is not tested for microbial contaminents like Cryptosporidium. According to Ken Cook, the president of the Environmental Working Group, "Approximately forty-five million Americans in thousands of communities drink water that is polluted with fecal matter, parasites, disease-causing microbes, and pesticides at levels that violate Safe Drinking Water Act standards. 21 Children Die From Exposure To Contaminated Drinking Water The movie A Civil Action , released in 1999, became a powerful and vivid reminder of how our drinking water clearly impacts the quality of our lives, how easily a community's drinking water gets contaminated, and how those responsible for the contamination and ultimately, the deaths of 21 children, were able to escape blame. A Civil Action was based on a real life story that began in Woburn, Mass. where 21 children died when members of the community were exposed to drinking water contaminated by two major industries over a period of time. It took more than 20 years for Massachusetts health authorities to complete its studies and confirm that the children's deaths were caused by drinking water contaminated with trichloroethylene(TCE) and tetrachloroethylene(PCE). 7,000 NH Private Wells Tainted By Gasoline Additive MTBE As reported in Fosters' Daily Democrat (1/31/00), as many as 7,000 wells may have been contaminated with unsafe levels of the gasoline additive MTBE, while as many as 33,000 more contain lower trace levels. MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) is a man-made chemical added to gasoline to reduce air pollution from vehicle emissions. It has been classified as a possible human carcinogen because laboratory rats and mice that breathe or drink it have developed lymphoma, leukemia, testicular tumors, thyroid tumors, and kidney tumors. MTBE is highly soluble in water and degrades slowly. A mere gallon of gasoline containing MTBE can foul an entire community's water supply for years. Chlorine: Friend or Foe? Chlorine has been used in the U.S. since 1908 to kill off microbes that spread cholera, typhoid fever, and other waterborne diseases. Today, about 90% (240 million) of Americans are drinking water that has been disinfected with chlorine. In the mid 1970's scientists discovered that a by-product of chlorine, Trihalomethanes (THMs)had carcinogenic qualities. While saving millions of lives, it is becoming evident that Chlorine by-products contribute to bladder and colon cancer, and possibly miscarriage. A study, recently released by the Environmental Working Group and Public Interest Research Groups identified areas that may have increased health risks, including miscarriage, neural tube defects, and reduced fetal growth from women drinking chlorination by-products. Is bottled water a healthy water? One out of 18 families in the US buys bottled water. But, many bottled waters are simply processed water using distillation, reverse osmosis, de-ionization or filtration. With more than 700 brands of bottled water available in the US, around 80 % have been found to be nothing more than processed waters. Laboratory tests have discovered that some bottled waters contained more Trihalomethanes (Chlorine by-products) than surface and ground waters. Needless to say, bottled waters should be totally free of contaminants and chemical pollutants. To Be or Not To Be Concerned? In a report commissioned by Ralph Nader, at least 2,110 contaminants have been identified in the nation's water supplies. Of these, 700 are considered hazardous to your health, with 129 known to cause cancer. The EPA requires that only 85 of these be tested for and reduced by municipal water companies, with only 8 tested for in private wells in Maine and NH. Our bodies require at least 8 glasses of water each day for proper function. But, today drinking the water is like playing Russian roulette. While we have little control over substances like anthrax, we can protect our drinking water with a point-of-use filtration system capable of reducing a wide range of contaminents including cryptosporidium, MTBE, THMs, and more. We are ultimately responsible for our own and our families' health. When you turn on the tap, you don't have to ask yourself "do I feel lucky today" ? If You Don't Have A
Filter...YOU Are The Filter !
Copyright © 1996-2009 • Ray Allard • All Rights Reserved |
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