A growing number of environmental organizations and scientists are focusing on the chemical pollution in our bodies and the subsequent impact on our health. Their aim is to educate us about this disturbing situation and provide information on how to reduce our exposure. By alerting individuals and families to their personal danger, they are increasing awareness of the larger impact of chemical pollution on the environment and wildlife. As a means of attracting public awareness, some well-known political and media personalities have taken part in studies that measure their personal pollution profiles.

In fact, I watched the Dr. Oz show yesterday and sure enough, the topic of discussion was the dangers that lurk in our tap water. Dr. Mehmet Oz alerted that “There is a state of emergency with America’s water. The contaminates are in the water you drink and the water you bathe in, the water you brush your teeth with. Parasites, chemical cleaning agents, arsenic, and animal feces can be lurking in the water in your home and you don’t even know it.” He goes on to say that, “every year nearly 20 million of us get sick from water infected by parasites, bacteria and virus’s. And one out of every 10 us gets exposed to water contaminated with toxic chemicals, poisoning our bodies. Manganese, barium, lead, and even arsenic, tons of it getting pumped illegally into our soil contaminating our water supply.”

Dr. Oz Show - Don’t Drink The Water

Dr. Oz had New York Times Reporter Charles Duhigg on the show, who has done a series of articles called “Toxic Water”, exposing and blowing the lid off how the Government protects our water. Duhigg reported that the clean water act passed in 1972 to protect the safety of our water has been violated a half a million times in the last 5 years alone.

In fact, many believe that a considerable amount of tap and well water in North America is now simply not safe for drinking due to heavy industrial and environmental pollution. In Canada, the water quality of the Great Lakes has been compromised by both natural causes and a long history of apathetic pollution.

Yet, when most of us turn on the tap to get a drink, we don’t often think about the quality of the water that we are about to drink. We assume that by the time the water reaches our tap, it has met the current standards for consumption. This may often be the case, however, we are hearing more and more about contamination from chemicals.

You might be wondering where these chemicals come from, the Natural Resources Defense Council says “They are used in a seemingly endless array of industrial applications and consumer products, including baby toys, air freshener, laundry detergent, shampoo, nail polish, food containers, rugs and furniture, to name a few.”

A study by University of Washington engineering professor, Anne Steinemann, has found that many common household items are potentially exposing us to dangerous chemicals. The threat isn’t limited to people because the chemicals in consumer products flow from homes to the outdoors. “These chemicals get into our water systems.” she said. “They are extraordinarily hard to get out of the environment.”

So what can we do to reduce our exposure? A very important step to take in your home is to filter your tap water. Filtering your water will remove toxins, but only if the system is NSF certified to remove all contaminants including the mix of pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, mood stabilizers, steroid hormones, as well as dangerous metals and chemicals such as lead, manganese, barium and arsenic and other compounds passing through standard wastewater treatment processes.

Dr. Oz mentioned some basic carbon filters such as a carafe or a faucet filter. The reality is that while these filters will eliminate some of these toxins (primarily chlorine), they are nowhere near as effective as a whole home water system. An NSF certified whole home water treatment system is the best defense. Although, it may be a more expensive option up front, the savings per glass of water compared to carafe or faucet filters far outweighs this…Not to mention the cost to your health.