WATER
This week @environmentalworkinggroup published their 2021 Tap Water Database, which revealed contamination from toxins like arsenic, lead and PFAS— in the drinking water of tens of millions of households across all of the US
Ewg scientists spent 2 years collecting & analyzing U.S. water contaminants from almost 50,000 water systems.
What did they find?
In their own words “when some Americans drink a glass of tap water, they're also potentially getting a dose of industrial or agricultural contaminants linked to cancer, brain and nervous system damage, fertility problems, hormone disruption and other health harms.
56 new contaminants were identified in drinking water: many new PFAS chemicals
Contamination levels vary greatly from town to town and water utility to water utility but you can head over to their database,enter your ZIP code & search your location. The database shows the contaminants detected. Sone water systems do meet federal standards but many scientists agree that federal limits are not safe.
➡️at a federal level, there are no adequate regulation for many chemicals including PFAS, hexavalent chromium & more than 160 other unregulated contaminants that pollute tap water.
➡️Other chemicals that are regulated have limits That havent been updated in 50 years
Ie: New York City has 10 contaminants that exceed EWG’s health guidelines, while also complying with legally mandated federal standards. The city’s tap water has 73x the amount of bromodichloromethane that EWG deems safe, 80x the amount of chloroform and 2.1x the amount of hexavalent chromium.
What to do
1. Check out how your local water scores on the EWG database: if there are concerning chemicals consider getting a water filter
2. Well water: test your water with @mytapscoreannually ( code : munchkin10)
3. Keep in mind: your home’s plumbing is often a source of some contaminants, particularly lead … in addition to EWG database info you might want to test your water to confirm plumbing is not an issue too ( i like @mytapscore for testing)
4. What about bottled water? Its not regulated
So many cities & town across the US promise their citizens that their drinking water is safe to drink.....but is tap water really safe?
For 9 months Consumer Reports & the Guardian investigated the US's drinking water. They selected 120 people from around the US (water systems servicing > 19 million) & tested for a list of contaminants They found:
❌𝗣𝗙𝗔𝗦
❗️Almost every sample tested had measurable levels of PFAS- 35% exceeding what CR scientist consider safe
❗️Prior investigation (by EWG) found PFAS contaminated water in 49 states
❗️PFAS are a group of almost 5K chemicals some of which have strong links to learning delays in children, cancer & other health problems
❌𝗔𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗰
❗️every sample CR tested had measurable levels of arsenic,8 % had levels ⬆️CR’s recommended max for drinking water
❗️Arsenic is a known neurotoxin linked to cancer & ⬇️ iq in children even at low dosis
❗️Drinking water with low concentrations of arsenic over a long period of time is associated with increased risks of diabetes, cancers of the bladder, lungs, liver
❌𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗗
❗️Almost every sample had measurable (albeit low) amounts of lead
❗️Another study by Healthy Babies Bright Futures, 40 % of homes have water w/lead ⬆️ the American Academy of Pediatrics' limit for children
❗️There are no safe levels of Lead; it can permanently reduce children’s learning ability & linked to behavioral problems.
❗️The source is often lead pipes that feed people’s homes or in the home’s plumbing itself & not water from the water utility.
𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 (𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁) 𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝘀?
Everyone, but especially developing fetus's & Formula-fed infants due to outsized exposures at a time of heightened vulnerability
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗼
🌿Look online at your water utility's published water report
🌿Test your water for lead & possibly PFAS esp if:
🤰🏼you are pregnant
👷🏽there is road or pipe work on your block: lead could dislodge from pipes
🌿Invest in a water filter
I 💙multi stage carbon filters or reverse osmosis.
My favs & more in today’s stories & full #blog post
I get this question A LOT.
I can't tell you what kind of water filter you should get, or which one is the "best" or if X or Y brand is "a good one" - it's all relative!
A lot of folks on social, including and especially influencers, will promote their favorite filters as affiliates.
I'm totally cool with the affiliate model, and I affiliate for a ton of products that I love, and I'm sure I could make a lot of money off promoting a specific brand of filter as "the best" but that would be disingenuous as I can't promise that any given filter will be the right solution for you.
The way we determine if any filter is "the right one" for us is by TESTING our water.
I tested my tap water for contaminants (via @mytapscore) a while back because I know that in order to make an informed choice about a filter, I need to understand what I'm dealing with in terms of contaminants.
Some contaminants are easy to remove - others, like arsenic and uranium, both present in my water - are harder to remove.
I shared more about WHY I tested and HOW I tested in two IG Reels (if you haven't seen them, give them a watch)... tomorrow I'm dropping a longer video where I'm going to walk you through my TapScore test results - what I consider to be the absolute BEST testing service out there (I'll show you why in tomorrow's post).
I used my test results to determine what I think is the best water filtration system for my situation... and next week I'll be testing my filtered water to make sure it's doing what it promises (and I'll do a follow-up video on this too!)
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Have you tested your water?