Is Your Bottled Water Killing You?

Most all water that is sold in stores in plastic water bottles, where you may be getting your water from, prior to being delivered, is inadvertently heated inside the delivery trucks which reacts with the chemicals in plastics of the bottles and release cancer causing dioxins, bisphenol A and other toxic chemicals.

These toxins which are found in plastic water bottles, leach into the water, just as microwaved plastics can do the same, wreaking havoc on your health, turning the water into a chemical factory in a bottle which millions of people drink every year.

We’re going to cover ways in which you can reduce or eliminate the toxic effects of plastics in your life and benefit from much better alternatives to bottled water that will not only save you money, but will keep these known toxins out of your drinking water.

Dioxon’s are one of the most toxic chemicals known

An EPA report confirmed that dioxin is a cancer hazard to people. In 1997, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) – part of the World Health Organization — published their research into dioxins and furans and announced on February 14, 1997, that the most potent dioxin, 2,3,7,8-TCDD, is a now considered a Group 1 carcinogen, meaning that it’s a known human carcinogen.

Also, in January 2001, the U.S. National Toxicology Program upgraded 2,3,7,8-TCDD from “Reasonably Anticipated to be a Human Carcinogen” to “Known to be a Human Carcinogen.” A July 2002 study shows dioxin to be related to increased incidence of breast cancer.

Dioxins and furans are some of the most toxic chemicals known to science. A draft report released for public comment in September 1994 by the US Environmental Protection Agency clearly describes dioxin as a serious public health threat. The public health impact of dioxin may rival the impact that DDT had on public health in the 1960′s.

Which water is safe to consume?

Let’s first cover which is the least safe and work our way up to what’s the safest water to consume.

The least safe water to drink is:

• Tap water. It has heavy metals, fluoride, chlorine and other toxic compounds and should be avoided at all costs.
• Bottled water. Studies show that 40% of bottled water comes from tap water! So you really don’t know what you’re getting when buying bottled water.
• Distilled water. The problem with distilled water is that it is boiled and can then become acidic and seeks to balance itself by drawing minerals out of your body to make up for what’s lost.
• Filtered tap water. Better than most waters above, finding the right kind of filter is key though. A small filter that fits on the tip of your faucet, doesn’t always mean that the water is totally safe to drink, even if it states it on the box. Finding a two or three stage or higher water filter are a much better alternative.
• Mountain spring water. It is some of the healthiest water on the planet because it is “living water”. Living water, like living food is in its raw and natural state is the way nature intended.

It’s understood, however, that most people can’t readily step out their door into a forest to get mountain spring water, and as covered earlier, even though spring water may be sold at stores, plastic bottles that have been delivered to the store, more than likely are heated up in the process from inside the sun-baked delivery truck which sometimes travels hundreds or thousands of miles until it finally reaches the store shelf.

Environmental impact of plastics

Because plastics embody energy from fossil fuels (and actually have a higher energy value than coal), leaving so much of it in landfills is not only an environmental hazard, it is a huge waste of a valuable resource that could be used to produce electricity, heat, or fuel.

The Plastics Division of the American Chemical Council asked the Earth Institute’s Earth Engineering Centerto explore ways of recovering the energy inherent in non-recycled plastics. The resulting report, released in August 2011, determined that the amount of energy contained in the millions of tons of plastic in U.S. landfills is equivalent to 36.7 million tons of coal, 139 barrels of oil, or 783 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

If all this plastic were converted into liquid fuel, it could power all the cars in Los Angeles for a year. And the fact is, there are now technologies that can put all this waste plastic to good use.

Water bottles that are safe and unsafe to use

Harmful chemicals — including the plasticized phthalate — may leach from polyethylene-terephthalate (PET), which has been widely used in the plastic bottling industry. Many well-known doctors tout using polyethylene bottles for water storage because they are a low toxicity substance. However, depending on the compounds its bonded with, the polyethylene level of toxicity and flammability varies considerably, so steering clear from this kind of plastic water bottle container will help lessen any potential negative impacts on your health.

With the varying types of water that can be consumed, by far the best water is from a natural spring, and not in a plastic bottle, and in a container of glass or food-grade stainless steel.

But to ensure that you’re drinking safe non-toxic water that comes from your home, find yourself a NSF rated 42 or higher water filter. These are larger water filters which either sit on top of your sink, or can be placed underneath the sink for convenience. Most large-sized water filters such as reverse osmosis systems can filter out harmful toxins and produce 50,000 or more gallons a year of pure water, depending on the brand.

The incredible cost of buying bottled water

Not only is the cost of buying bottled water exorbitant,  but when the bottles are thrown out or recycled, they place a heavy burden on landfills and the planet, particularly in the largest waste dump in the ocean, known as “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch”.

Let’s take a look, in practical dollars and cents, how much a person spends each year who buys bottled water.

For a conservative example, if each bottle of water cost .50¢ and a person consumes three 8 oz. bottles a day, that totals $1.50 per day. That works out to $540 per year. In just five years, you would be spending  $2,700 just on bottled water alone.

Now compare that cost, to a water filter that puts out 10,000-20,000 gallons per year for a cost of $40-$75. Then add $15 for a safe aluminium or glass drinking container. You just saved over $2,500!

Not only do you see the huge savings in buying water, but you know exactly where your water came from and how it was filtered. Note: the small water filters that are fitted on the tip of a faucet is not what I’m talking about; those only produce about 1,000 gallons of water and they are only a one-stage system water filter. You want to try to get the best water filter that provides pure drinking water that won’t break the bank.

Health benefits of drinking pure water

I can’t say enough about the health benefits of drinking pure water. Here are only a few of the many health benefits you and your family will enjoy once you make the switch to pure water:

• Maintain a healthy body weight
• Properly digest food and absorb nutrients from food
• Have healthy, glowing skin
• Decrease muscle and joint inflammation
• Have better circulation
• Detoxify your body naturally

Finally, the extensively researched and fascinating book, Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, should be required reading by all, and definitely belongs on every health care practitioner’s bookshelf.

What’s great about a home water filter and safe water bottle containers, is that you’ll save tons of money per year from switching to non-plastic water bottles, you’ll lessen impact on land fills and you won’t be putting toxins into your body.

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