Is Tap Water Toxic?

Given that water is our life fuel, I think it’s worth really knowing what we’re putting inside our bodies throughout the day, particularly if you’re drinking tap water. A number of studies have shown that there are a number of chemicals in the water supply that are harming marine life – gender bending chemicals in lakes and rivers are causing male fish to grow eggs – they’re feminising – and alligator and otter penises are shrinking. True story! This TED talk explains how this is happening. Whilst you may not care directly about the feminisation of marine life, you may be wondering how this is affecting human beings. If you’re a regular on this site you’ll have seen me talking about how testosterone levels in men have dropped by 22% in two decades and sperm counts have as much as halved in half a century. The 4th most popular surgery in the United States is gynecomastia removal (man boob) removal. This is actually happening people. There are hormones in the water supply which are said to contribute to this. This is in addition to the xenostrogens (environmental oestrogens) which we are exposed to as a result of harmful chemicals like pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides used on plants. And hormones used in animals to fatten them up or GMO feed or indeed GMOs we consume directly. They all affect our hormones.

Below is what a Harvard Medical health study has reported on the issue of chemicals in the water supply. Not only are there are number of different forms of the female hormone, oestrogen, but there is even testosterone in there too – as a result of Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) – not good for women! In fact, it’s not good for men either.

Check out the Harvard Health Study:

Sewage treatment plants are not currently designed to remove pharmaceuticals from water. Nor are the facilities that treat water to make it drinkable. Yet a certain amount of pharmaceutical contamination is removed when water gets treated for other purposes. For example, some research shows that conventional treatment methods result in a 90% decrease in the amount of ibuprofen and naproxen in the water discharged from sewage treatment plants. On the other hand, treatment doesn’t seem to have much effect on the levels of drugs such as carbamazepine and diclofenac (a pain reliever).

Some aspects of sewage treatment may remove pharmaceuticals from the water, but as a result, concentrations in sludge increase. Some of that sludge is used as fertilizer, so the pharmaceuticals are getting into the environment in another way.

Drinking-water treatment may also get rid of some pharmaceutical contamination. Chlorine is used to kill bacteria and other pathogens, but it also seems to degrade or remove acetaminophen, codeine, and the antibiotic sulfathiazole. A 2007 study of one drinking-water plant found that conventional treatment methods reduced the concentrations of several important medications (acetaminophen, carbamazepine) by 75%.

Still, there’s really not much question that some pharmaceutical pollution persists and does wind up in the water we drink. In 2008, the Associated Press published a series of investigative articles about pharmaceutical contamination in drinking water. The journalists uncovered test results that showed the water supplies for 24 major metropolitan areas had detectable levels of pharmaceuticals. Scientists from the Southern Nevada Water Authority and other organizations reported results in 2010 from a study analyzing drinking water from 19 treatment plants. Their tests found antidepressants, antipsychotics, antibiotics, beta blockers, and tranquilizers, although only in trace amounts and far below levels thought to have an effect on humans.

It’s possible that there’s a cumulative effect on people from even tiny amounts of these and other pharmaceuticals in drinking water, but this hasn’t been proven. And perhaps vulnerable populations (pregnant women, people with disabilities) are affected, although that’s also unproven.

Effects on fish and wildlife

In contrast to the uncertainty about human health effects, there’s quite a bit of evidence for pharmaceuticals in the water affecting aquatic life, particularly fish. Numerous studies have shown that estrogen and chemicals that behave like it have a feminizing effect on male fish and can alter female-to-male ratios. Sources of estrogen include birth control pills and postmenopausal hormone treatments, as well as the estrogen that women produce naturally and excrete. Intersex fish — creatures with both male and female sex characteristics — have been found in heavily polluted sections of the Potomac River. Studies of fish upstream and downstream of wastewater treatment plants have found more female and intersex fish downstream from the plants, presumably because of the higher estrogen levels in the downstream water. Other research has uncovered popular antidepressant medications concentrated in the brain tissue of fish downstream from wastewater treatment plants.

Read more here

Fear not, there are solutions to this! We can buy decent water filtration systems like reverse osmosis filtration devices for your home. Make sure to get one that replaces the minerals as they are essential for us. Kangen water systems are the best I’ve come across but they’re expensive. (CONTACT ME if you’d like to purchase one and/or learn more about these incredible machines.) They alkalise the water as well and leave the natural minerals in the water so it’s the purest you can buy. No chemicals, no chlorine, no fluoride, no hormones, no pharmaceuticals. Most water that comes from our taps is acidic. I’ve seen a live demonstration on this and was shocked to see just how acidic the water supply is. They PH tested the water in many bottled waters too and most were acidic. We need a slightly alkaline environment in our body to be healthy.

When purchasing bottled water, do your best to find BPA-free plastic (these BPAs in plastics release oestrogen-mimicking compounds into the water particularly when warmed up). Also, avoid filtered bottled water and stick to mountain spring or from high quality water supplies.