Where's Your Water Come From?
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| Photo Courtesy Terry Bain via Flickr.com |
For many people drinking bottled water is a great way to make sure the body stays hydrated. Recently, bottled drinking water has been coming under scrutiny regarding its sources and purity. This year the Obama Administration is taking steps to set limits on the chemicals on bottle water. This reverses a 2008 decision from President George W. Bush that bottlers did not have to follow any regulations regarding the water content.
What are they watching now? The compound perchlorate. While perchlorate does not harm you directly, it does change how your body absorbs iodine. Iodine is an essentially element that is need to help regulate the thyroid. According to the EPA, perchlorate is a naturally occurring and man made substance. We see it as a byproduct of fertilizers, bleach, and rocket fuel just to name a few.
Researchers under the current administration are taking this water business seriously. They are studying over 16 compounds including volatile and non-volatile compounds that are sometimes present in drinking water.
According to the EWG, current monitoring data suggests that between 5 and 17 million people drink tap water that contains perchlorate. This is an important statistic considering only a small percentage of bottlers use real natural spring water.
While I was working early on in my career for an environmental firm, one large corporation that was bottling water had discovered that their water was contaminated after a series of analytical tests. It contained volatile (cancer causing) compounds. The sad part is that no one was notified that had purchased their product.
There is a much inexpensive way to make sure you stay hydrate. Just drink your tap water! Not only does this save large amounts of landfill waste (the waste itself makes volatile compounds), but it also ensures that you know where your water is coming from.
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Photo Courtesy Terry Bain via Flickr.com
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