Elevated levels of two plastic-softening chemicals in pregnant women’s urine are linked to less-masculine play behavior by their sons several years later, according to a study published in the International Journal of Andrology. Phthalates, which are used in everything from vinyl floors to plastic tubing and soaps and lotions, are pervasive in the environment and have increasingly become associated with changes in development of the male brain as well as with genital defects, metabolic abnormalities and reduced testosterone in babies and adults.A team of U.S. and British researchers posed a standard play questionnaire to the parents of 145 preschool-age children. Then they ranked the types of play on a scale from most masculine (such as play fighting or using trucks) to most feminine.

An effect was identified among the sons of women with higher concentrations of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) in their prenatal urine. On average, those boys scored 8 percent further away from the masculine end of the scale than other boys.

Two studies published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in 2003 found that pregnant women who are exposed to phthalates may be at risk of shortened pregnancy. Women who were exposed to the chemicals gave birth more than one week earlier than women who were not exposed to them.

Although it’s not clear exactly how phthalates impact the developing fetus, it’s believed they may play a role in inducing an intrauterine inflammatory process, which is a well-established risk factor for premature birth.

In addition, the more a pregnant woman is exposed to high levels of phthalates, the greater the risk her son will have smaller genitals and incomplete testicular descent, leading to impaired reproductive development. The chemical also appears to make the overall genital tracts of boys slightly more feminine.

It is believed that phthalates have these adverse effects because they reduce testosterone synthesis by interfering with an enzyme needed to produce the male hormone. This raises yet another worry: What if they also alter other biological processes dependent on this hormone? Why wouldn’t they?

This latest study adds to the growing body of evidence showing the harmful effects these chemicals have on males in particular.

Women who had higher concentrations of two types of phthalates (DEHP, and DBP) also had boys who appeared more feminized in their personality, while playing.

The presence of phthalates in the mothers was not associated with any differences in the girls’ play behavior. However, that is NOT an indication that phthalates are “safe” for women.

They also affect women’s endocrine systems and reproductive health although the effects are different between the genders.

The glands of your endocrine system and the hormones they release influence almost every cell, organ, and function of your body. It is instrumental in regulating mood, growth and development, tissue function, metabolism, as well as sexual function and reproductive processes.

One indication that this is an issue for both male and female is that infertility is on the rise. Girls are also reaching puberty earlier than ever before.

Bovine growth hormones used in food production, soy foods, and bisphenol-A (BPA), just to name a few, add to the problem as they also mimic estrogen and disrupt your endocrine system.

Other studies have linked the chemical to thyroid problems in both women and men, and researchers have also suggested a link between phthalates and illnesses like allergies, asthma, and contact dermatitis, all of which are on the rise in children.

Common Sources of Phthalates

Phthalates, or “plasticizers,” are a group of industrial chemicals used to make plastics like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) more flexible and resilient. They’re one of the most pervasive of the endocrine disrupters.

Phthalates are found in, among other things:

• Processed food packaging
• Hoses
• Raincoats
• Shower curtains
• Vinyl flooring and wall coverings
• Lubricant and adhesives
• Detergents
• Beauty products like nail polish, hair spray, shampoo, deodorants, and fragrances
• Toys

Other Gender-Bender Chemicals to Watch Out For

Endocrine disrupting chemicals are everywhere these days and can be difficult to avoid unless you take decisive steps to limit or eliminate them from your immediate surroundings. This is particularly important if you are pregnant, or planning a pregnancy.

Reading labels is a necessity these days. PVC plastics, which contain phthalates, will oftentimes carry the plastic recycling symbol # 3.

Some of the other gender-bender agents to look out for include:

• Bisphenol A (BPA) — a common ingredient in many plastics, including those in reusable water bottles and resins lining some food cans and dental sealants, can change the course of fetal development in a way that increases your risk of breast cancer.Plastic items carrying recycling symbol # 7 is oftentimes indicative of a BPA-containing plastic.
• Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) — found in grease- and water-resistant coatings like Teflon and Gore-Tex, is a likely carcinogen.
• Methoxychlor and Vinclozin– An insecticide and a fungicide respectively, have been found to cause changes to male mice born for as many as four subsequent generations after the initial exposure.
• Nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) — Known to be potent endocrine disrupters, these chemicals affect gene expression by turning on or off certain genes, and interfere with the way your glandular system works. They mimic the female hormone estrogen, and have been implicated as one reason behind some marine species switching from male to female.
• Bovine growth hormones commonly added to commercial dairy have been implicated as a contributor to premature adolescence.
• Soy products, which are loaded with hormone-like substances.
• MSG — A food additive that’s been linked to reduced fertility.
• Fluoride — This chemical in the U.S. water supply has been linked to lower fertility rates, hormone disruption and low sperm counts.

For more information about the various health hazards inherent with each of these agents, please click on the individual links above.

How to Minimize Your Exposure to Chemicals That Can Harm Your Unborn Baby

In July 2008, the U.S. Congress finally passed legislation banning six types of phthalates from children’s toys and cosmetics. Legislators in Washington, Vermont and California have also restricted phthalate use in children’s goods, and several major retailers, including Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us, Lego, Evenflo and Gerber claim they will phase out phthalate-laden toys voluntarily.

Yet, so many more products contain endocrine disruptors of varying types, it’s far easier to memorize the healthiest options, rather than compiling a never-ending list of items to avoid.

Here are a number of practical techniques you can use to limit your exposure to endocrine disruptors, and other common toxins:

• As much as possible, buy and eat organic produce and free-range, organic foods to reduce your exposure to pesticides and fertilizers.
• Rather than eating conventional or farm-raised fish, which are often heavily contaminated with PCBs and mercury, supplement with a high-quality purified fish or krill oil, or eat fish that is wild-caught and lab tested for purity.
• Eat mostly raw, fresh foods, steering clear of processed, prepackaged foods of all kinds. This way you automatically avoid artificial food additives of all kinds, including dangerous artificial sweeteners, food coloring and MSG.
• Store your food and beverages in glass rather than plastic, and avoid using plastic wrap.
• Have your tap water tested and, if contaminants are found, install an appropriate water filter on all your faucets (even those in your shower or bath).
• Only use natural cleaning products in your home.
• Switch over to natural brands of toiletries such as shampoo, toothpaste, antiperspirants and cosmetics. The Environmental Working Group has a great safety guide to help you find personal care products that are free of phthalates and other potentially dangerous chemicals.
• Avoid using artificial air fresheners, dryer sheets, fabric softeners or other synthetic fragrances.
• Replace your Teflon pots and pans with ceramic or glass cookware.
• When redoing your home, look for “green,” toxin-free alternatives in lieu of regular paint and vinyl floor coverings.
• Replace your vinyl shower curtain with one made of fabric.

A 10-year study on disinfection byproducts (DBPs) reports on the connection between certain DBPs in drinking water that are “emerging” in scientific studies and their carcinogenic potential, according to a March 31 ScienceDaily report based on a University of Illinois press release.

The study, which began with a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has found that iodine-containing DBPs are much more toxic and genotoxic than other DBPs now regulated by EPA, according to University of Illinois geneticist Michael Plewa, the study’s author.

Plewa said another “somewhat surprising” discovery concerns nitrogen-containing DBPs. “Disinfectant byproducts that have a nitrogen atom incorporated into the structure are far more toxic and genotoxic, and some even carcinogenic, than those DBPs that don’t have nitrogen. And there are no nitrogen-containing DBPs that are currently regulated,” Plewa said.

Ironically, the DBPs that are regulated by the EPA tend to be some of the least toxic DBPs in Plewa’s study. “We’ve found that the emerging DBPs are much more genotoxic and much more cytotoxic. But I can’t fault EPA because these data were not present at the time, and in fact the development of the database of over 70 DBPs has been done in concert with our colleagues at the federal EPA.”

In addition to drinking-water DBPs, Plewa said that swimming pools and hot tubs are DBP reactors. “You’ve got all of this organic material called ‘people’ — and people sweat and use sunscreen and wear cosmetics that come off in the water. People may urinate in a public pool. Hair falls into the water and then this water is chlorinated. But the water is recycled again and again so the levels of DBPs can be tenfold higher than what you have in drinking water,” Plewa said, noting that studies show higher levels of bladder cancer and asthma in people who do a lot of swimming.

Plewa said the long-term study has resulted in what he considers the largest toxicological data base on emerging DBPs.

Plewa, along with a team of scientists, received an EPA science and technology award for their paper, “Occurrence, genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of regulated and emerging disinfection by-products in drinking water: A review and roadmap for research.” It was published in the scientific journal Mutation Research.

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.”

http://www.slowater.com Water treatment is one of the most difficult choices for homeowners to make. Don’t get stuck with junk, Call Hague Water for the right solution today. 800-549-0038

New research has identified the 11 most frequently detected pharmaceutical and hormonally active chemical compounds in the drinking water of 19 US water utilities, a January 12 NewScientist.com article reported.

Researchers Shane Snyder and colleagues at the Southern Nevada Water Authority in Las Vegas screened tap water from 19 US water utilities for 51 different compounds. The research, which is scheduled to appear in the next issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology, indicates that all of the 11 most frequently detected compounds were found at extremely low concentrations.

According to the NewScientist.com article, the 11 most frequently detected compounds were:

● 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

● TCEP, a reducing agent used in molecular biology

● Trimethoprim, an antibiotic.

Christian Daughton, Ph.D., of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Exposure Research Laboratory, said in the report that neither this nor other recent water assessments give cause for health concern. He added, “But several point to the potential for risk — especially for the fetus and those with severely compromised health.”

Snyder said in the report that water utilities could make drinking water purer; however, the costs of “extreme purification” are huge in terms of increased energy usage and carbon footprint, cautioning that ultra-pure water might not even be safe.

New product line introduced for those who are looking for a higher pH drinking water, but still want the purity of reverse osmosis.

There are many alkalizers available today on the Internet or through MLM distributors. There is clearly a trend for alkaline water. Unfortunately these alkalizers do no more for cleaning the water other than running them through a carbon filter. These are not effective for removal of Arsenic, Nitrates, Salts, pharmaceuticals, hormones … dissolved solids.

With the Alka-Pure system, the water is first purified and then alkalized to reach a pH of over 8.0.

If you’re interested in water of this quality call 800-549-0038 today.

Low levels of certain man-made chemicals remain in public water supplies after being treated in selected community water facilities.  

Water from nine selected rivers, used as a source for public water systems, was analyzed in a study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

“Most of the man-made chemicals assessed in the USGS study are unregulated in drinking water and not required to be monitored or removed,” says Tom Jacobus, General Manager of the Washington Aqueduct. “These findings are not surprising and they will be important in helping regulators and assisting water utility managers arrive at decisions about future water treatment processes.”

Scientists tested water samples for about 260 commonly used chemicals, including pesticides, solvents, gasoline hydrocarbons, personal care and household-use products, disinfection by-products, and manufacturing additives. This study did not look at pharmaceuticals or hormones.

Low levels of about 130 of the man-made chemicals were detected in streams and rivers before treatment at the public water facilities (source water). Nearly two-thirds of those chemicals were also detected after treatment. Most of the chemicals found were at levels equivalent to one thimble of water in an Olympic-sized pool.

“Low level detection does not necessarily indicate a concern to human health, but rather indicates what types of chemicals we can expect to find in different areas of the country,” said USGS lead scientist, Gregory Delzer. “Recent scientific advances have given USGS scientists the analytical tools to detect a variety of contaminants in the environment at low concentrations; often 100 to 1,000 times lower than drinking-water standards and other human-health benchmarks.”

Testing sites include the White River in Indiana; Elm Fork Trinity River in Texas; Potomac River in Maryland; Neuse River in North Carolina; Chattahoochee River in Georgia; Running Gutter Brook in Massachusetts; Clackamas River in Oregon; Truckee River in Nevada; and Cache La Poudre in Colorado. The populations in communities served by these water treatment plants vary from 3,000 to over a million.

This study is among the first by the USGS to report on a wide range of chemicals found before and after treatment. The full source-water quality assessment and listing of chemicals are available online.

The water in Morro bay is hard. Water supplies include private well, municipally treated city water, and state water.

Water Hardness is measured in Grains per Gallon (GPG), or Parts Per Million (PPM).

We use the grains per gallon measurement because most softeners are set with the GPG standard.

The Water in Morro Bay will vary on a day to day basis as all water does, but generally it is 9 - 30 GPG.

For water softener settings we recommend 20 GPG

What is the hardness scale?

0-3 Soft

4-7 Medium Hard

7-12 Hard Water

Bottled water isn’t necessarily any purer than the water you get from your tap — it’s just more expensive.

The Environmental Working Group tested 10 major bottled-water brands. Thirty-eight low-level contaminants turned up in the water, with each brand containing an average of eight chemicals. Disinfection products, caffeine, Tylenol, nitrate, industrial chemicals, arsenic and bacteria were all detected.

Two brands contained disinfection byproducts at levels that exceeded California’s bottled-water standards, and bottles of Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Choice bought in the Bay Area contained trihalomethanes, which have been linked to cancer and miscarriages.

In fact, the Wal-Mart water and a brand sold on the East Coast by the Giant supermarket chain were “chemically indistinguishable from tap water.”

• JustGetThere.us October 16, 2008

• ABC News October 15, 2008

The Solution

The only way to have pure tap water is with a water purifier. Under sink reverse osmosis systems purify water 96-98%. The only draw back is they use water.

For a reverse osmosis system that uses up to 300% less water check out the
Hague H3500 Reverse Osmosis. It also produces 35% better pressure. Great for Ice Makers, low water pressure and multiple spiggot installations.

Many private well owners in Los Osos are drawing from a supply with relatively low hardness, low tds and low pH.  Typically this water also is higher in Nitrates.

The symptoms could include blue - green staining in sinks or toilets, pin hole leaks in the plumbing.

The only way to be sure of your water quality is to test it.

If you think your water may be acidic call 800-549-0038 to schedule a free water test.