Hormones In Our Drinking Water?!

Have you ever thought about what is in your drinking water? Of course we do have drinking water treatment facilities but what might sneak through and end up in our bodies?

This might come as a surprise to you but in 2008 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) tested water in nine states across the country and found that 85 man-made chemicals, including some medications, were commonly slipping through municipal treatment systems and ending up in our tap water. Now don’t get all crazy but 85 chemicals is a lot! Did you know of those 85, estrogen has been a common culprit?

That’s right, estrogen is released into sewers through women taking birth control pills. This estrogen not only comes from birth control pills though it can also come from large industries, livestock, agriculture, and landfills in your community. Now before you get too worried, there are only VERY SMALL traces of these chemicals, which are dubbed non-threatening to humans. However, researchers have found evidence that even extremely diluted concentrations of drug residues harm fish, frogs, and other aquatic animals. The body of a fish or a frog reacts to EE2 as if it were a natural estrogen, “de-masculinizing” male animals and creating a condition called intersex (http://bit.ly/1PjnQTw) that interferes with an animal’s ability to reproduce. Now let’s be honest, what man, be it a fish or not, really wants to be de-masculinized?

If you’re looking for a way to safety filter your water even more think about investing in “reverse osmosis filtration” or solid block carbon filters. Other options such as bottled water and pitcher water filters do not successfully filter out all of that bad stuff. While water bottles run the risk of polluting the water with chemicals from the plastic bottle itself.

– K