More than 60,000 chemicals could get into our drinking water, while the EPA patrols limits on fewer than 100 of them, says the magazine. Are old pipes in your city water system adding interesting things to the mix? The article details a lot of things to worry about.

Is bottled water a solution? Not according to Reader’s Digest, which headlined a small article “6 Reasons Bottled Is All Wet.” For one thing, it’s generally just tap water. For another, it costs a fortune to move around. They didn’t even dwell on the BPA issue, where plastic bottles introduce false estrogens into our bodies. Experts consulted all seem to be drinking tap water; Reader’s Digest suggests a home water filter. More RD advice:

1. Pick a filter or system certified by NSF International, “which sets recognized standards in this field.”

2. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for installation and use.

3. Replace filters on schedule. Otherwise you invite bacteria growth.

According to Reader’s Digest, you can consider a carbon filter in a pitcher, an under-sink model that includes reverse-osmosis technology, or a whole-house system.

Good news! Multi-Pure fits the bill on all of these with a proven, reliable set of filters, NSF-certified, to meet the level of filtering you want.

Source: Reader’s Digest, August 2011, pp. 102-113.

Yet another study demonstrates this. EnvironmentalHealthNews.org reported this month on a study published recently in the journal Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology. In this study, human placenta cells from five new mothers were cultured in a laboratory, and BPA was added in a variety of doses found in the blood of pregnant women and fetuses. The doses ranged from .002 to 200 micrograms per milliliter. The placenta cells were exposed to the BPA at these levels for 24 hours and then examined for damage.

Significant damage was found. Three types of damage were measured; all were significantly higher than the control. But one type of  damage measured much higher at the lower dose of BPA, a particularly troubling finding. EnvironmentalHealthNews.org concludes that BPA can disrupt the placenta enough to affect the growth of the fetus.

BPA is found not only in bottled water bottles, but in tin can liners, dental sealants, and a variety of products. Nearly all Americans have BPA in their blood; children have higher levels than adults.

One way to help protect your family from BPA is to use a home water filter such as Multi-Pure’s, the best on the market. Put your purer, cleaner water in stainless steel bottles to take with you.

Source:  EnvironmentalHealthNews.org

At the hearing, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report recommending that bottled water producers be required to label their products with the same information that municipal water providers are required to disclose.

Currently, there are separate requirements for bottled water — regulated under the FDA — and municipal water, regulated under the EPA. The EPA requirements are more stringent, and require more testing.  For example, the EPA limits phthalates, a chemical used in plastics manufacture that causes cancer. The FDA does not.

In addition there are state requirements for bottled water that in some cases are more stringent than the FDA requirements, but less stringent than the EPA requirements.

The GAO surveyed consumers in all 50 states and reported that consumers are misinformed about bottled water — they often think that bottled water is safer or healthier than tap water.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Working Group, a watchdog nonprofit group, also reported at the hearing. EWG said it believes consumers need more information to make good choices. Consumers should know where the water comes from, how it is treated, and what contaminants are in it, according to the EWG’s Richard Wiles.

That information is not currently on the label in many cases, although it may be available at the bottling company’s Web site, as a spokesman for the International Bottled Water Association pointed out at the hearing.

But complete disclosure is rare.  An EWG study released at the hearing checked 188 bottled water brands and found that less than 2 percent disclose all three basic facts about their water, on the label or in a Web site. Those facts are the water’s source, how it was purified, and what contaminants remain.

The EWG recommends using a home water filter for your tap water.  I researched the possibilities and got one I’m very happy with. If you want to consider the highest-quality, most durable water filter on the market, take a look at Multi-Pure. As a distributor, I  can give you a great discount on it!

EWG released the study this month analyzing blood from five minority American women from around the country, who happen to be high-profile environmental activists. The two-year study found up to 48 toxic chemicals in the blood of the five, when testing for 75 compounds.

The compounds were chosen because they:

* are common in consumer products

* are not effectively regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act

* may be associated in animal studies with cancer, reproductive problems and behavioral effects.

The study found these contaminants in the blood of all five participants: flame retardants, Teflon chemicals, synthetic fragrances, the plastics ingredient bisphenol A (BPA) and the rocket fuel component perchlorate.

Participants tested postive for 35 to 60 percent of the 75 chemicals on the list. Each also showed a high level of at least one controversial unregulated chemical.

For example, the blood of New Orleans resident Beverly Wright, Ph.D., registered in the 87th percentile for perfluorochemicals (PFC’s) used in Teflon, in stain-resistant coatings such as Goretex and Stainmnaster, and in grease-resistant food packaging. Her blood also registered in the 87th percentile for mercury, especially dangerous to infants and fetuses.

Also found in her blood was:

* BPA, a plastics additive that mimics estrogen;

* perchlorate, a rocket fuel ingredient and common tap water and food contaminant;

* lead;

* polycyclic musks, fragrances associated with hormone disruption in animal studies; and

* PBDE’s, flame retardants found in furniture, computers, and televisions.

Meanwhile, reform of the current protection laws is under debate on Capitol Hill, according to the EWG.

If you are concerned about these chemical contaminants, you may want to consider getting a home water filter that allows you to filter out the bad stuff and avoid the chemical perils of plastic packaging. You can carry your purified water with you in healthy stainless steel bottles.

The study was published in March by the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. In it, Joshua G. Shier, of the CDC Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, led a team that reported on testing 15 powdered infant formula brands. The study did not name the brands but said that just two of them acounted for 87 percent of the market in the US for powdered infant formula in 2000.

A summary at medicalnewstoday.com said that the study found perchlorate contamination in all brands, and that cow’s milk formulas contained significantly higher perchlorate contamination than soy and other formulas.

But the study conclusion that caught the public’s eye was the one that said the EPA safety limit may be exceeded when certain cow’s milk formulas are mixed with perchlorate-contaminated water, according to medicalnewstoday.com.

Perchlorate was spread across America during Cold War weapons testing and now contaminates food as well as drinking water. The compound also occurs naturally in small amounts.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) identifies perchlorate as a thyroid toxin that particularly affects infants and fetuses.

The EPA last year decided not to regulate perchlorate as a drinking water pollutant, according to the medicalnewstoday.com article.

I don’t know about you, but I am pretty concerned about the state of our tap water. I hope you consider a home water filter.

The previous system I used was a Pur or Brita countertop reservoir (like a large pitcher, with a spigot).  It worked fine,  but the flow rate was miserably low. I never would have used it for a pot of soup. Actually, I just filled a pot with filtered water for a pot of soup.    Also, I got tired of washing the reservoir.  It just didn’t generate enough filtered water for six people, and was a bother to boot. So I stopped using it. That was a number of years ago.

In the meantime we’ve been drinking good old St. Louis tap water, which is pretty good but still has plenty of undesirable stuff in it.  I am thrilled to be able to filter it now, do a good job, get high flow, and no maintenance (except once a year, changing the filter).  The system components seem very durable, so I don’t expect to have to take Multi-Pure up on its warranty.  I’m especially happy because we have two kids with Asperger’s, and it seems that people on the autism spectrum have trouble getting toxins out of their bodies.  So now we’re being responsible about not letting toxins into our drinking water.

The council graded the 19 cities on three items:

• Is source water protected from pollutants?
• Is the piping system well maintained?
• Are treatment facilities modern and effective?

Various cities did well in some areas but poorly in others. For example,

• Atlanta has poorly maintained piping.
• Albuquerque and San Francisco have poor treatment systems.
• Fresno does not protect its water source.

In general, the study found plenty of worrisome contaminant levels, though little that was technically out of bounds. The problem, said the study authors, was that the quality standards are weak, and systems are antiquated. For example, ” cancer-causing arsenic is currently present in the drinking water of 22 million Americans at average levels of 5 ppb” (parts per billion). That level is well below the EPA’s new standard for arsenic at 10 ppb. Yet it is still dangerous.

Sscientists now know that there is no safe level of arsenic in drinking water,” said the study authors.  And for the plenty of contaminants that are not yet regulated, many municipal water systems allowed contamination higher than the EPA’s “level of concern.”

Overall, the study found excess levels of these contaminants:

• Lead from corroded piping
• Disease-causing organisms
• By-products of chlorine treatment such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids. These can cause cancer and reproductive problems.
• Arsenic which causes a variety of problems including cancer.
• Toxic chemicals including radon and the rocket fuel perchlorate.

Study authors expressed concern for infants, pregnant women, and those with compromised immune systems. They also called for comprehensive improvements in the nation’s water supply systems.

If you find all this worrisome, consider getting a home water filter that gives you purer, healthier water.

German researchers Martin Wagner and Jörg Oehlmann were wondering how active the false estrogens are that are found in bottled water.

First they tested 20 different brands of mineral commonly for sale in Germany, using yeast modified to contain a human estrogen receptor. They found significant functional estrogen levels (presumably leaching from the plastic bottles) in 60 percent of the packages tested. The estrogen levels were most significant in the plastic water bottles, but also found in glass bottles and in cardboard cartons with plastic liners.

Does the estrogen actually stimulate reproduction? They rinsed polycarbonate plastic and glass bottles, added water and snails, and waited.  After a period of time, the snails housed in the plastic bottles generated significantly more baby snails than the ones in the glass bottles. This suggests that the plastic packaging is a source of active estrogen hormones.

Moral of the story:  avoid bottled water and get a home water filter!

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) say they plan to introduce the bills, according to Meg Kissinger of the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal, March 12, 2009.

Manufacturers say they are moving to take BPA out of baby bottles. But the rest of us are at risk as well.  The product not only leaches from soda and water bottles, but it lines metal cans and “microwaveable” packaging.  BPA was originally developed as an estrogen replacement, according to Kissinger’s article, and is now found in the tissues of nearly every American tested.

Studies have shown BPA increases risk of breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, heart disease and hyperactivity.  It is also contributing to delayed puberty in boys, according to Leonard Sax, MD, author of Boys Adrift.

To reduce your risk from BPA, get rid of your bottled water. Instead, get a home water filter and use stainless-steel bottles to carry your purified water.

First I ordered the Aqua Dome, which sits on the counter and attaches to the sink using fittings anybody can attach.  It’s the least expensive alternative, at $165.00 after the discount.  But alas, I couldn’t attach it to my faucet, which is a combined faucet/sprayer in one tool.  I couldn’t even attach it to the bathroom faucet, which is just off the kitchen. That faucet was an odd size too. Also, the unit is bigger than I imagined and won’t sit on the bathroom sink.

So I ordered the under-sink model 750SB, at $340 after discount.  Most householders won’t have too much trouble installing this, but we had a problem: the sink lip is covered with granite countertop. So it was necessary to drill through the granite. I am guessing that most granite countertops aren’t installed this way, but ours is.

Now, drilling through granite requires special tools and expertise.  So we located somebody who knew how to do it. It took him 15 minutes to drill the required hole. Pretty impressive, huh?  Then he hooked it all up and tested it, and we’re good to go now.

The water tastes great. I ordered some stainless steel bottles online for a reduced price, and we’re heading for a BPA-free household.  Won’t have to worry about the filter for a year now, when I’ll have to replace it. So I put stickers on the calendar and relaxed. Yay!!!