Widespread Contaminants in Drinking Water Across U.S.

Protecting public health shouldn’t be this hard. When it comes to chemical safety, Congress should shift the burden of proof from regulators to manufacturers. A recent survey conducted by researchers at the U.S. Geographic Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found traces of 18 unregulated chemicals in drinking water from more than one third of U.S. water utilities. Of the 21 total chemicals found, researchers discovered among them 11 perfluorinated chemicals, an herbicide, two solvents, caffeine, an antibacterial chemical, a metal and an antidepressant. 

Preliminary findings were presented by scientists at an annual toxicology conference held by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry last month in Nashville.

Only 91 contaminants are regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act, yet more than 80,000 chemicals are used within the United States, according to EPA estimates. Government and independent scientists have scrutinized thousands of those chemicals in recent decades, and identified hundreds associated with a risk of cancer and other diseases at small concentrations in drinking water.

Regulated chemicals such as fluoride have been added to drinking water supplies for decades without any regard to long-term health. The fluoride added to 90% of drinking water is hydrofluoric acid which is a compound of fluorine that is a chemical byproduct of aluminum, steel, cement, phosphate, and nuclear weapons manufacturing.

According to a study, 50 chemicals capable of interfering with hormones is permitted in packaging in the United States and the European Union.

The American Chemistry Council significantly ramped up its lobbying efforts in 2012, spending more than double its total for any quarter in recent history.

Federal researchers took samples from 25 U.S. utilities from around the nation who voluntarily participated in the study, providing samples of treated and untreated water. Disturbingly, 18 of the chemicals found are not regulated under the Safe Water Drinking Act, meaning utility companies are not required to treat, limit, or even monitor for their presence.

Millions of Americans have been exposed since 2004 to drinking water that did not meet at least one commonly used government health guideline intended to help protect people from cancer or serious disease.

“The good news is the concentrations are generally pretty low,” said USGS research hydrologist Dana Kolpin, PhD. to Environmental Health News. “But,” he continued “there’s still the unknown. Are there long-term consequences of low-level exposure to these chemicals?”

While there is a paucity of data on some of the contaminants, regulated chemicals such as atrazine, metolachlor, triclosan found in drinking water samples have been demonstrably linked to serious human and environmental health problems. Atrazine, for example, is used nationwide to kill broadleaf and grassy weeds, primarily in corn crops. It has been shown to be harmful to humans, mammals, and amphibians even when the amount used is less than the government allows. Atrazine is also associated with infertility, low birth weight, and abnormal infant development in humans. The chemical’s use is widespread, but for agriculture its use in concentrated in the Midwest farmbelt.

There are 700 new chemicals introduced into commerce each year in the United States alone. Many of these chemicals induce cancer and other diseases in the human body, yet every year there are more disease-causing chemicals carelessly approved to further pollute our environment and water supplies.

In addition to atrazine, triclosan, caffeine, metolachlor, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and nine other perfluorinated compounds, which are used in a variety of industrial processes including production of nonstick or stain resistant products, were found in the drinking water supply. 251 chemicals, bacteria, viruses, and microbes measured were also detected in drinking water of more than a third of the 25 utilities while 113 were found less than a third of the utilities.

This study represents one of the few that documents how common emerging contaminants are in drinking water. Only four of the chemicals detected --the metal strontium, the herbicide metolachlor, PFOS and PFOA-- are now on EPA’s list of chemicals under consideration for inclusion in drinking water standards. They plan to finalize their decision for at least five contaminants on the list sometime next year.

Drinking tap water contaminated with PFOA is a serious health risk. The highest measured levels of PFOA in human blood in the US, other than factory exposures, are in people who have consumed PFOA contaminated tap water in West Virginia and Ohio. These people had PFOA levels in their blood 100 times higher than the levels found in the water, and far higher than the average person in the US.

PFOA is linked to developmental toxicity, immunotoxicity, alterations in the hormonal levels, metabolic disturbances and an elevated risk of cancer.

“We’re hoping through this work the EPA will do a much more intensive contaminant candidate list and develop new methods and requirements for drinking water plants,” said USGS scientist Edward Furlong toEnvironmental Health News.

Unfortunately, regulations that protect U.S. waterways from chemical contamination, including contamination from pesticides, have been attacked by industry groups and Congress. Under the Clean Water Act (CWA), pesticide users who spray over waterways must have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. However, all that is required is to simply let authorities know what is sprayed and when it is sprayed, so that the public may know what chemicals are used in their waterways. There is no system of enforcement in place to prevent the pollution.

Source: PreventDisease

30,000 people freed from water fluoridation after Australian town rejects poison

An outstanding ban on artificial water fluoridation has been upheld in the Australian coastal town of Byron Bay, located in New South Wales, following a heated encounter among local residents, scientists, dentists and city officials. The Fluoride Action Network reports that the Byron Shire Council ultimately ended up voting five-to-three to uphold the fluoride ban, relying on modern science which shows that fluoridation is both harmful and ineffective.

A group of fluoride-truth activists showed up to the recent meeting, which threatened to undo the ban, and made their voices heard about the outdated practice. Reports indicate that a large crowd, which included many local residents, showed up waving large signs and banners that said things like "We, the people of the Byron Bay Shire, strongly object to having our water poisoned with FLUORIDE!!!" Others brought letters signed by local doctors opposing the practice and delivered them directly to city officials.

"If Health NSW are truly concerned about dental health and not just fluoride, then they should support us in other ways to achieve better outcomes," stated Byron Mayor Simon Richardson, who received resounding applause for his defense of health freedom.

On the opposing end, in support of fluoridation, were the usual suspects, including government health officials and those with a vested interest in poisoning the water supply with fluoride. Many of these individuals offered the same tired arguments about poor children with bad teeth allegedly needing all those fluoride chemicals in the water to protect against cavities, while at the same time ignoring the scientifically proven dangers of fluoride.

Byron council stands with science, opposes toxic water fluoridation

But the pro-fluoride lobby lost the fight, thanks to the majority of the Byron city council that listened to the will of the people and rejected the pro-fluoride proposal. With the exception of a few stubborn sticklers, the council decided that it is simply not appropriate to forcibly medicate the public with chemicals derived from the waste of phosphate and fertilizer production, which have repeatedly been shown to lower IQ levels and cause hormone problems.

"We the undersigned are medical practitioners and health professionals who have concerns about the efficacy and safety of water fluoridation," read the official letter presented to the council in opposition to fluoride. It is "imprudent to initiate further fluoridation of public water supplies until such time as modern data can either substantiate or refute the alleged benefits and the safety or otherwise is established."

Additionally, the money that otherwise would have been spent on fluoridation can now be used for programs that have actually been scientifically shown to help promote dental health, such as prenatal and postnatal education and free dental clinics. Fluoridation, on the other hand, continues to be a leading cause of some of the very conditions that its proponents say it helps prevent, including dental fluorosis, tooth decay and bone loss.

"Ninety-five percent of the world's population doesn't fluoridate their water," added Merilyn Haines, a local resident opposed to water fluoridation who showed up at the meeting. "It's an aberration what we do in Australia. It's an American idea from the 1940s. Surely science has changed."

Source: NaturalNews

How To Remove Fluoride From Tap Water

Natural Cures Not Medicine on Facebook: www.facebook.com/naturalcuresnotmedicine

Fluoride has a dubious history starting with the mass fluoridation of people under Nazi rule. In recent years, there has been a push to remove fluoride from the tap water in the US, behind most European countries which have already removed the poisonous chemical from their water supplies.

Most politicians erroneously support fluoridation due to heavy lobbying in favor of the chemical, but more and more activists and consumers are making a stand for their water supply. It may only be a few years until we totally eradicate this twisted fluoridation scheme, but here is one way to remove fluoride and 99.9% of all other contaminants from your tap water: Distillation. The first video will show you how to remove fluoride and all other contaminants from your tap water. The second video will show you the dangers of fluoride being used in our water supply.



The Dangers Of Fluoride In Drinking Water

Danger of Fluoride in Water and Toothpaste

Natural Cures Not Medicine on Facebook: www.facebook.com/naturalcuresnotmedicine

Well, in case you didn't know it, fluoride is highly toxic. In fact, before fluoride was deemed a "cavity fighter," it was used as insecticide and rat poison. It's true. Even more surprising is that when it comes to dental hygiene, fluoride actually does more harm than good.

Everything you always DIDN'T want to know about fluoride

For decades the message that fluoride safely prevents tooth decay has been considered sacrosanct. This idea came from the same "chemicals for better living" era that also told us that smoking cigarettes soothed the throat.

Now for a brief history lesson: please switch off the lights and turn on the projector...

Fluoride is a pollutant - a by-product of copper, iron and aluminum manufacturing. The problem of how to legally dispose of fluoride was solved in the 1930's when a study (funded by one of the country's largest aluminum companies) concluded that fluoride prevented tooth decay. A successful public relations effort, helped along with some cooperative government cronies, resulted in the good news going out: this miracle chemical, when added to water supplies, will give everyone healthy teeth and brighter smiles.

Got fluoride?

But does fluoride actually prevent tooth decay? Not according to the largest study ever conducted on fluoridation and oral health. 39,000 school children in 84 areas around the U.S. were studied in the mid-80's, and the results showed no statistical difference in tooth decay rates between fluoridated and non-fluoridated cities.

www.NewsTarget.com

Meanwhile, tooth decay trends tracked by the World Health Organization from 1970 to the present show that the incidence of decayed, missing or filled teeth has been steadily in decline with each passing year in the U.S., France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Iceland and Greece. And why are the numbers of decayed teeth on the decline? Better oral hygiene and improved dental practice is the most obvious answer. It's certainly not the fluoride. Because of all of those countries, only one adds fluoride to the public water supply: the United States.

A few of the countries listed above used to put fluoride in some of their water, but they eventually wised up to the dangers of this aluminum by-product. And here's some truly radical thinking for you: many of those countries simply refuse to run fluoride through every citizen's faucets based on the idea that health treatments should be a personal choice and not mandated by the government. What a concept!

Downside takes a down turn

So how is fluoride bad for you? To start with, the irony is that when you consume too much fluoride, your teeth can become discolored and crumble. But that's nothing compared to the other ways that fluoride attacks your mind and body.

In tests on laboratory animals, fluoride has been shown to enhance the brain's absorption of aluminum - the substance that's found in the brains of most Alzheimer's patients. Three different osteoporosis studies have associated hip fractures with fluoridation. And excessive fluoride has been shown to damage the musculoskeletal and nervous systems, leading to limited joint mobility, ligament calcification, muscular degeneration and neurological deficits.

And finally (I saved the worst till last), a number of different studies have linked fluoride to as many as 10,000 cancer deaths per year, with a high incidence of bone cancer among men exposed to fluoridated water.

In the meantime, local, state and federal government agencies across the U.S. do their best to simply dismiss all this bad news. Unlike their European counterparts, they're sticking to their outdated and baseless claims that the stuff is good for you. Why? If I had to guess, I'd say it's because they're terrified that if they admit that fluoride is poison, the deluge of resulting civil law suits just might wash them away.

Consumer misreports

So back to Dannon - what do you think? Are kids getting so little fluoride that they need to have it added to their bottled spring water? Consumer Reports magazine says YES! As you may recall Consumer Reports has been a target in previous e-Alerts for offering superficial and wrong-headed advice on health and nutrition issues. My beef with CR is that they are no more qualified to give me nutrition advice than my internist is qualified to tell me which air conditioners have the best ratio of energy efficiency to BTUs. And yet, they continue to get involved in issues they just have no place in.

Last February, Dr. Marvin Lipman, a spokesman for Consumer Reports, stated that not everyone is getting enough fluoride. The problem, says Dr. Lipman, is twofold: some communities don't fluoridate their water systems, and a lot of people these days are drinking bottled water which contains no fluoride. Ah, but don't you worry - in addition to Dannon, as many as 20 other bottled water pushers, are answering the "need" for more fluoride. And if you still think you're not getting sufficient fluoridation, an article in Consumer Reports suggests that you sign up to have 5 gallon jugs of fluoride-laced water delivered to your door.

But let's be perfectly clear: Fluoride is not something your body needs. No one has a fluoride deficiency. Fluoride is a false magic bullet solution from a bygone era. Now, 60 years after water fluoridation began, the word is getting out: this stuff is just plain bad. But thanks to Dannon and others, it appears that fluoride is about to take its toll on at least one more generation of American kids before someone overcomes the government marketing mindset and reveals this poison for what it really is.

Source: Oasis Advanced Wellness

Aspartame Kills

Monsanto's Aspartame & Phenylalanine Business is now owned by Listerine.

A warning: Do not ingest ASPARTAME! -

 Nutrasweet - Equal - Creatine - Canderel - And many others...

Just like fluoridated water - aspartame is literally a poison in almost ALL of our food. Aspartame causes seizures - brain tumors - multiple sclerosis (ms) and Grave's disease. In 1970 scientists fed milk with aspartame to 7 monkeys to study the effects. The final results: starting after 218 days - 5 monkeys had grand mal seizures and 1 died. IT'S IN ALMOST ALL OF OUR FOOD! 

ASPARTAME CONSUMPTION IS NEVER SAFE - Aspartamekills.com

HISTORY OF ASPARTAME - Check out the history...

The deadly artificial sweetener Nutrasweet is produced by feeding fossil fuel oil to ecoli that are genetically modified to DEFECATE aspartame as feces. Not so sweet after all is it?

Some video evidence: