Guest Series: How Safe Is Your Drinking Water? {Hilary Kimes Bernstein}

I am happy to welcome Hilary as my guest for the next installment of Fitness, Health and Happiness Guest Series. I "met" Hilary on her blog, Accidentally Green, while looking for tips and how-tos for green living. Her blog is a wealth of information and a pleasure to read. With trying to train for my next marathon and the etreme heat her topic is timely. The importance of water and and the role it plays to overall fitness and perfromance is a topic near and dear to all athletes.

How safe is your drinking water?

By Hilary Kimes Bernstein
www.accidentallygreen.com

 Anyone trying to live a healthy life knows that drinking water is vital. Our bodies were created to need water – in fact, around 60 percent of our bodies are made of water.

 Unfortunately for Americans, it’s difficult to discern what type of water is safe to drink. Both tap water and bottled water certainly have their share of problems. It’s important for consumers to judge for themselves what’s acceptable.

 Tap Water Troubles

Over the past few years, Americans have learned more about what chemicals and toxins are routinely found in tap water. Regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, many chemicals and toxins are permitted to stay in public water supplies. In 2005, the Environmental Working Group tested municipal water throughout the United States and found 260 contaminants in public water. Out of those 260 contaminants, 140 were unregulated chemicals – chemicals without any safety standards or removal methods.

Hundreds of toxins have no place in drinking water. Just four common contaminants include lead, arsenic, perchlorate and hexavalent chromium. Here’s why they’re so nasty for human consumption:

• Lead leaches to tap water through plumbing. It’s known to cause significant mental and physical delays in babies and children. It also can cause high blood pressure and kidney problems in adults. 

• Arsenic contaminates drinking water supplies via agriculture, industry, or natural deposits in the earth. According to the U.S. EPA, “Non-cancer effects can include thickening and discoloration of the skin, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting; diarrhea; numbness in hands and feet; partial paralysis; and blindness. Arsenic has been linked to cancer of the bladder, lungs, skin, kidney, nasal passages, liver, and prostate.”

• Perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel that’s harmful to infant brain development and thyroid function, began contaminating water supplies after rocket and missile tests were conducted during the Cold War. The toxin is found in drinking water in at least twenty-eight states. 

• Hexavalent chromium (also known as chromium-6) is a highly toxic form of chromium – but not all chromium is bad. In fact, trivalent chromium, or chromium-3, is an essential nutrient. Hexavalent chromium can enter the water system by contamination from textile and electroplating manufacturing factories. And, interestingly enough, chlorine has the ability to transform the harmless trivalent chromium into the harmful carcinogen hexavalent chromium, posing a challenge with chlorine-based water purification methods.

Bottled Water Mysteries
It may be tempting to stick to bottled water. Heck, everyone seems to be doing it. In fact, bottled water consumption doubled between 1998 and 2008. But quality control desperately needs improved. Because of lax government standards, bottled water could come from a pure source – or it could be contaminated tap water. Bottled water companies aren’t required to publish water quality tests, so there’s no way to know what’s safe or dangerous. 

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, one-fourth to one-third of all bottled water is actually municipal tap water. And some of that bottled water gets filtered and treated for parasites like giardia or cryptosporidium, but some does not. Since there’s not as much testing with bottled water, it’s impossible for consumers to know if their bottled water comes from a municipal water source. It’s also impossible to know how rigorously the bottled water’s been tested.

What’s safe?
There is good news. One safe, healthy, and most environmentally friendly option is to drink tap water filtered by a reverse osmosis filter – be sure to use a drinking glass, stainless steel canteen, or BPA-free container. Reverse osmosis filters do remove lead, arsenic, perchlorate and hexavalent chromium – as well as a host of other contaminants – from tap water.

Stop using a carbon filter, though. While both pitchers and tap-mounted carbon filters are cheap and easy to use, they only remove contaminants like lead – NOT chromium-6. And forget about boiling water for safe drinking water. That lengthy process only removes bacteria, but leaves the carcinogens.

The absolute safest water to drink is distilled. In the distillation process, all contaminants and toxins are removed.

To read about other healthy decisions that honor God and happen to help the environment, visit Accidentally Green.

-- 
Hilary Kimes Bernstein
Accidentally Green

Making healthy decisions that honor God and happen to help the environment
www.accidentallygreen.com

Comments

[Elle @ We can begin to feed...]

Not sure if my comment was captured or not so will add another.

This is a very interesting article and I appreciate the information. Was surprised that distilled water is recommended. Good to know.