The majority of residents on the central coast are using municipally treated water (city water). This is not H2O, but a complex chemical mixture of dissolved minerals, contaminants and chemical additives.
Drinking the bath water may be less harmful than bathing in it. The skin is the largest organ of the body. ln 1991, the EPA concluded that the average person can absorb more contaminants from bathing and showering than from drinking polluted water. The nicotine patch is the most wildly recognizable application of dermal absorbsion.
Children have a greater surface-area-to-body-weight ratio than adults, which may lead to increased dermal absorption.” Circulatory flow rates are generally higher in children, which may increase a child’s susceptibility to toxic effects.
The EPA regulates 83 contaminants under the current safe drinking water act. In the United States alone 80,000 different chemicals are used. Unfortunately the toxicity testing is for an individual contaminant like lead or mercury only. Scientists estimate that anyone alive today has at least a 700 contaminant cocktail called body burden.
Body burden is defined as the total amount of chemicals that are present in the human body at any given point in time. The chemicals can be inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin.
Because children have a higher circulatory rate and greater surface area to body weight ratio than adults they have a much higher percentage of body burden.
Recently more unregulated contaminants were found in our nation’s water at very low levels.
● Atenolol, a beta-blocker used to treat cardiovascular disease
● Atrazine, an organic herbicide banned in the European Union but still used in the United States, which has been implicated in the decline of fish stocks and in changes in animal behavior
● Carbamazepine, a mood-stabilizing drug used to treat bipolar disorder, among other things
● Estrone, an oestrogen hormone secreted by the ovaries and blamed for causing gender-bending changes in fish
● Gemfibrozil, an anti-cholesterol drug
● Meprobamate, a tranquilizer used in psychiatric treatment
● Naproxen, a painkiller and anti-inflammatory linked to increases in asthma incidence
● Phenytoin, an anticonvulsant that has been used to treat epilepsy
● Sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic used against the Streptococcus bacteria, which is responsible for tonsillitis and other diseases
● Trimethoprim, an antibiotic.
All the unregulated chemicals are at such low levels that symptoms are not easily noticeable.
Chlorine in the water does have some noticeable symptoms such as dry skin, or itchy skin. Simply removing the chlorine from the water for the entire home will show improvement within 2 weeks if the chlorine was the cause of the problems.
Researchers at the University of Portsmouth are looking for children with moderate to severe eczema between the ages of six months and 16 years to take part in a clinical trial to determine if installing a water softener at home improves their conditions.
A participant who just completed one such trial said in the university’s news release that less than two weeks after a water softener unit was installed there was “dramatic improvement” in the condition of her son’s eczema.
Beside dermal absorbsion chemicals can also be inhaled in the form a gas or vapor that is released from the water when heated. Volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) are a major concern for people who have respiratory problems ranging from asthma to emphysema.
Water softeners do not remove chlorine, other chemicals or VOC’s. The most effective way to remove all the chlorine and reduce the chemicals from the water for the entire home is with a large carbon filter system. These systems range greatly in size and price.
Carbon comes in various forms. For whole house treatment granular activated carbon (GAC) is the best form. One teaspoon of GAC has the surface area of a football field because of its porous structure. Running municipally treated water through a large GAC filter will remove chlorine and reduce chemicals. Any chemicals that would be absorbed into the skin will be filtered into the GAC before entering the home.
Carbon filters are never to be used on a private well unless the water has been disinfected first.
After improving the water quality with a whole house filtration system to remove chlorine, chemicals and water hardness it’s almost time for a bath.
The last thing to consider is soap, shampoo and conditioner. The rule of thumb these days is, if you wouldn’t eat it; don’t put it in on your skin.
Find products free from things like hormone disrupters, parabens, sulfates, petroleum oils, dioxanes, phthalates, formaldehyde and propylene glycol.
As parents we are all concerned with the wellbeing of our children. We spend countless hours researching environmental toxins, hormone disrupters and vaccination risks. As a parent I’m surprised to find out how many people don’t make the time to do the extensive research that we have done for our family. We feel it is time well spent, and will never look back and say, “We spent to much time and money protecting our children from environmental toxins.”
