There is the legal limits regarding dangerous contaminant concentrations in drinking water and then there's the scientific research findings on safe limits. Unfortunately, they are not one and the same.
A study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit organization, has found that more than 100,000 cancer cases could be caused by contaminants in tap water. The study analyzed water quality profiles for 48,363 community water systems and found that various contaminants found in drinking water at perfectly legal levels can still harm human health. So even if your tap water meets all of the current safety requirements, it still may not be safe to drink especially on a regular basis. Are you using a water filter?
A local news story here in Iowa states that nitrates in tap water cause 300 cases of cancer annually in the state citing the EWG study. 12,500 cases due to nitrate pollution nationwide annually. The main form of cancer found to be related to nitrates in drinking water is colorectal cancer.
(Water Utilities with Nitrate concentrations above 1.4 mg per Liter)
Birth defects is another finding at current legal levels. Again, there is the legal level and then there is the safe level found in these studies. Iowa tap water does meet the legal levels yet found to be unsafe. Naturally, the recommendation is to lower the legal levels to improve safety and protect our health. The main source of nitrate contamination is agricultural runoff which explains why Iowa is in focus. Our state is mostly farm country.
So, do you think bottled water is safer? THINK AGAIN!
Consumer Reports: Bottled water with unsafe levels of arsenic. A link to that study and everything else I present here and in my video are down below for you to read. A federal limit for arsenic in bottled water is 10 parts per billion but Consumer Reports says that limit should be changed to 3 parts per billion. Same issue between legal limits and research established limits. Chronic exposure to arsenic can cause serious health problems including cancer, birth defects and cardiovascular disease. I included a link to the FDA Guidance Guide For Arsenic In Bottled Water below as well.
Here is my latest video about this....
( Just click the picture to watch the video)
Here is my issue:
The legal levels of water contamination and the safe levels are not one and the same. Am I to understand that the FDA does not know what the actual safe levels are? They have no idea? This is all new information to them? How did they set the levels they have now in the first place? Are they going the change anything? Are they acting on this new information in any way?
If you have you own home or you're in an area where you can, maybe collecting rainwater would be a good idea for you.
