Information » Health Risks » Water
Water is life. Human health took a quantum leap forward when we began to treat our water. Cholera was the most well-known water-borne illness, but many others once plagued our species. Almost 2 billion people still drink unclean water, and recent deaths in Walkerton, Ontario remind us not to take our water for granted.
Your water may not be contaminated by microbes, but that does not mean it is safe. For a variety of reasons, most municipal tap water contains a variety of chemicals and toxins that are linked to health problems. Drinking bottled water is not the answer; it is an environmental disaster and most of it is just repackaged tap water anyway. While there is no perfect solution to this problem, you can still improve the water you drink every day.
CHLORINE
Chlorine is added to water to kill bacteria, viruses and parasites. It might not be an exaggeration to say that more lives have been saved by water treatment than by all the doctors in history. Unfortunately, the chlorine in water is not totally safe. It probably causes cancer.
When chlorine reacts with organic molecules in our bodies, it produces a class of compounds called trihalomethanes (THMs). In in vitro studies, these compounds damage DNA. Many population studies have shown an association between long-term exposure to THMs and increased risk of cancer.
One study in particular is worth mentioning. Spanish researchers compared 1219 people admitted to hospital with bladder cancer and 1271 people admitted for other reasons. They found that the people with bladder cancer were much more likely to have been exposed to the highest levels of THMs. Interestingly, although there was a definite link with THMs in drinking water, an even stronger link was found with THM exposure from showers or baths in chlorinated water (Am J Epidemiol 2006;165:148).
Well water is usually much safer. Water filters just like the ones you put on your drinking water faucet are available for showerheads.
FLUORIDE
Most people take it for granted that adding fluoride to the water is a good thing. Cities in Canada and the US began fluoridating their water after WWII. This was based on research suggesting that people living in the US town of Newburgh developed fewer cavities after fluoride was added to their water. Other researchers argued that dental health in Newburgh owed more to sanitation and antibiotics, but it is more important to note that this landmark research was funded by Alcoa. This aluminum manufacturer was dumping tons of fluoride-containing wastes into the rivers and streams near their smelting plants.
This is just one of many disturbing pieces of evidence uncovered by a journalist named Christopher Bryson, who revealed all in his book The Fluoride Deception. Bryson alleges that the real motive behind water fluoridation was to avoid a growing number of lawsuits filed by factory workers and citizens of towns where fluoride was dumped into the water. It apparently involved the US military, which produced huge amounts of fluoride waste in their effort to develop the atomic bomb - the infamous Manhattan Project that eventually won the war. Once dentists decided that fluoride was good for us, the lawsuits never stood a chance.
There is actually very little evidence that fluoride is good for us. The 10-15% reduction in cavities that has been attributed to water fluoridation is based on the fact that fluoride kills the bacteria that lead to cavities. But people don't get more cavities in Europe, and they don't fluoridate their water.
The evidence that fluoride makes us sick is also relatively weak, but animal and epidemiologic studies link it to behavioural changes, hormone problems and certain cancers, particularly osteosarcoma in boys. Factory workers exposed to higher levels are at increased risk of lung fibrosis, rashes and behaviour changes. Bryson documents evidence that much of this research was suppressed at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine by dental researchers with military and aluminum and automotive industry funding.
HEAVY METALS
Lead is a toxin with a long history. It is said by some that the fall of the Roman Empire was due in part to the lead in the glasses they drank water. In the early 1970s, research revealed that lead contamination was affecting brain development in children. This led to unleaded gasoline, which reduced blood lead levels considerably.
Even trace amounts of lead cause health problems. In fact, there is no acceptable level of lead. It is officially designated as having ‘No Observable Effect Level', meaning that no amount is safe. Large population studies have shown that even low levels of lead lower IQ in children, and there is a clear relationship between lead levels, high blood pressure and cardiovascular mortality - risk of dying of heart attack or stroke. Women are at higher risk after menopause, because 95% of the lead in our bodies is stored in bone and this is released when bones get thinner in osteoporosis.
It is estimated that over 1/3 of people in Ontario drink water with ‘higher than acceptable' levels of lead. Water fountains lead to the highest levels of contamination, because the water sits in their reservoirs for hours. In your home, it can come from the soldered joints that connect your plumbing, from brass taps, or even from the municipal pipes that travel underground and connect to the pipes in your home.
Aluminum in water has increased the risk of Alzheimer's dementia in 5 of 7 population studies (J Alzheimer Dis 2007;11:191), but experts are not yet convinced that it causes the disease. Other potential contaminants - which we still don't know much about - include arsenic, cadmium and mercury. Several labs will test your water for toxic metals, including one in Ottawa named Accutech. Simple charcoal water filters will remove some, but not all, of the metals in your water. We can measure and remove toxic metals from your body using chelation therapy.
OTHER CHEMICALS
Water treatment does nothing to remove the chemicals that find their way into our water supply. For decades, factories, mills, refineries and other industrial polluters have dumped their wastes into the lakes, rivers and streams of Canada. While awareness of this problem has grown, in many cases it still continues to this day. Toxic metals are just one class of such toxins.
PCBs and dioxins were once widely used in agriculture. They were banned many years ago, but they have not disappeared from the soil and will likely remain in our water for years to come. Other pesticides and fertilizers are also found in drinking water everywhere. After decades of military flight over New Mexico, the perchlorate in jet fuel has found its way into the Colorado River that provides drinking water to millions in California - and has even polluted its lettuce.
Even prescription drugs pollute our water. Some psychiatrists have jokingly suggested that we should put prozac in the drinking water - but it is already there. Antidepressants, cholesterol drugs, painkillers, antibiotics - they all get flushed down toilets and most are still there when sewage plants pour our treated wastes back into the Ottawa River.
WHAT IS MISSING
One thing that is missing from tap water is minerals. Calcium, magnesium and other minerals are often removed during the treatment process. Some have suggested that this may be one link to rising levels of osteoporosis and high blood pressure. Some spring water contains more minerals than others - the amounts are always printed on the labels. Well water is usually rich in minerals, and we often advise our patients to supplement with minerals or add them directly to their drinking water. Reverse osmosis completely removes all the minerals from water.
On a more subtle level, the electromagnetic properties of water are altered during water treatment. Water molecules in nature are known to exist in clusters that have a very specific ability to cross cell membranes. Some research suggests that chemically treated tap water may not have the same ability to rehydrate our cells as natural spring water. This is difficult to determine for certain - but it makes sense.
Another property of water that greatly affects its chemistry in the body is pH, a measure of acidity. Traditional peoples from around the world have used natural sources of alkaline water for healing for centuries. While the body tightly regulates the pH of blood and other extracellular fluids, the intracellular milieu is believed to be more variable. This acid-alkaline approach to wellness has been adopted by thousands of practitioners in Europe and North America, but for some reason there is not a shred of scientific evidence that supports - or refutes - this paradigm. Based on my experience with my patients, I do recommend an alkaline diet. And for what it's worth, I feel good when I drink alkaline water.
SUMMARY
A recent review of the literature found no evidence that drinking more water is good for you - and no evidence that it isn't. The science simply has not been done. There is also very little evidence to guide recommendations about how to purify your water.
In most cases, bottled water is probably no better than tap water. It also contains plastics that pose their own problems. If you have a water bottle, make sure it is bisphenol A-free.
Home purification is complicated because there are so many options. A simple charcoal water filter definitely helps. Reverse osmosis removes the most junk from water - but it also removes all the good stuff. Some elaborate systems will perform reverse osmosis, alkalinize it, magnetize it add minerals to it. We can't recommend specific brands yet - but we recommend you do your homework.
If you drink from a clean well or natural spring that has not been contaminated by metals or other toxins, consider yourself lucky. You have some of the only real water left in the world. If you drink municipal water, find out more about what is in the water you drink. Contact the city and ask questions. Get involved.