Bottled Water- also unsafe?

Bottled water has contaminants too, study finds

By JEFF DONN, AP National Writer Wed Oct 15, 12:17 AM ET

Tests on leading brands of bottled water turned up a variety of contaminants often found in tap water, according to a study released Wednesday by an environmental advocacy group.
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The findings challenge the popular impression — and marketing pitch — that bottled water is purer than tap water, the researchers say.

However, all the brands met federal health standards for drinking water. Two violated a California state standard, the study said.

An industry group branded the findings "alarmist." Joe Doss, president of the International Bottled Water Association, said the study is based on the faulty premise that a contaminant is a health concern "even if it does not exceed the established regulatory limit or no standard has been set."

The study's lab tests on 10 brands of bottled water detected 38 chemicals including bacteria, caffeine, the pain reliever acetaminophen, fertilizer, solvents, plastic-making chemicals and the radioactive element strontium. Though some probably came from tap water that some companies use for their bottled water, other contaminants probably leached from plastic bottles, the researchers said.

"In some cases, it appears bottled water is no less polluted than tap water and, at 1,900 times the cost, consumers should expect better," said Jane Houlihan, an environmental engineer who co-authored the study.

The two-year study was done by the Washington-based Environmental Working Group, an organization founded by scientists that advocates stricter regulation. It found the contaminants in bottled water purchased in nine states and Washington, D.C.

Researchers tested one batch for each of 10 brands. Eight did not have contaminants high enough to warrant further testing. But two brands did, so more tests were done and those revealed chlorine byproducts above California's standard, the group reported. The researchers identified those two brands as Sam's Choice sold by Wal-Mart and Acadia of Giant Food supermarkets.

In the Wal-Mart and Giant Food bottled water, the highest concentration of chlorine byproducts, known as trihalomethanes, was over 35 parts per billion. California's limit is 10 parts per billion or less, and the industry's International Bottled Water Association makes 10 its voluntary guideline. The federal limit is 80.

Wal-Mart said its own studies did not turn up illegal levels of contaminants. Giant Food officials released a statement asserting that Acadia meets all regulatory standards. Acadia is sold in the mid-Atlantic states, so it isn't held to California's standard. In most places, bottled water must meet roughly the same federal standards as tap water.

The researchers also said the Wal-Mart brand was five times California's limit for one particular chlorine byproduct, bromodichloromethane. The environmental group wants Wal-Mart to label its bottles in California with a warning because the chlorine-based contaminants have been linked with cancer. It has filed a notice of intent to sue.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Shannon Frederick said the company was "puzzled" by the findings because testing by suppliers and another lab had detected no "reportable amounts" of such contaminants. She said Wal-Mart would investigate further but defended the quality of its bottled water.

The researchers recommend that people worried about water contaminants drink tap water with a carbon filter.

___

On the Net:

Environmental Working Group: http://www.ewg.org

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Sweden's second city Gothenburg has decided to stop buying bottled water due to environmental concerns and will only provide civil servants with tap water, a city councillor said Thursday.(AFP/File/Teh Eng Koon)

From: Yahoo News


This is quite depressing news. :(

Why Cancer Occurs

Cancer: Causes and Effects
October 12th, 2008 by admin

Cancer has ravaged our western societies for many decades but there was a time not that long ago when cancer was not a part of our lexicon. Cancer is a man made disease caused by the introduction of toxic carcinogens, chemicals, pesticides, food preservatives and a host of additives.

Carcinogens attack the human cells attaching themselves to DNA and either altering cellular metabolism or the damaging the DMA directly. Normal DNA that is damaged and cannot repair itself leads to ‘programmed cell death’ a process called Biotransformation in which the damaged cells harmlessly become water soluble and are flushed from our body. Sometimes damaged DNA in a cell has no pathway and the cell has no choice but to become cancerous. Cancer tumors are formed when normal biological processes are hindered and the normally aggressive immune system is weak or has been weakened.

Some common carcinogens are tobacco smoke, asbestos (when inhaled), dioxins, radioactive material such as gamma rays, alpha particles (when ingested or inhaled) and x-rays which are highly carcinogenic due their retention in human organs. Also there are many natural carcinogens one being Aflatoxin B. which grows on stored nuts and grains. Another potent carcinogen is formaldehyde, which is used, in embalming and plastic making. In PCV manufacturing vinyl chloride is used which is a strong carcinogen.

Carcinogens are also produced by cooking foods at a very high temperature or by cooking meats until their well done. Some researchers say that the carcinogens present are so minute that they present no health threat. Others especially those in the natural health community say carcinogens in over cooked food do present a significant health threat and do add to cancer growing cells over a period of time.

The human body has a remarkable disposition to ward off disease through our built in immune system but a weakened immune system allows deadly carcinogens to get a foot hold in our cells enabling DNA damage. Acrylamide, a known carcinogen is created in frying or overheating foods such as potato chips, french fries and any other fried foods.

Smoking cigarettes and cigars may cause irreversible damage to human genes. There are over 4,000 chemical compounds, which are toxic to the human body and are carcinogenic. With all the education readily available on how deadly tobacco smoke is one would think smoking related diseases would be eradicated but that is not the case. Smoking still is a serious health problem.

With the advent of processed foods came innumerable additives that are foreign to the human body. Additives that add color or taste to a food and preservatives that unnaturally extend shelf life of processed foods. All man made additives are unnatural and may conflict with natural bodily functions. I won’t bore you with long scientific names, which can easily be found, on any processed food ingredient list. Suffice it to say all processed foods lend it to diminish. health.

Our water supply has been tragically compromised with the addition of chemicals added to the water in the name public health. Chlorine in massive amounts has been added to most public water supplies to kill off harmful germs when ironically it is the chlorine that is adding a foreign chemical in to millions of trusting people. Remember anything that is not natural in origin becomes a potentially dangerous ingredient in the ‘all-natural human body’. The human body reacts positively to natural wholesome foods and natural supplements and negatively to man made stuff that do not have natural ingredients in them.

In addition to harmful and potentially cancer causing preservatives added to food, pesticides and herbicides are liberally used to kill and deter insects and disease in our produce industry. These chemicals are poinsious to human consumption and studies support an increased cancer risk when consumed. As previously stated, any foreign entity introduced into the human body may potentially be harmful and increase cancer risk.

With that in mind one must place pharmaceutical drugs in the category of foreign material. Pharmaceutical drugs are used like eating candy in a brainwashed society. Every pill taken offers a challenge to our immune system and our naturally created normal bodily functions. Pharmaceutical drugs for the most part are a concoction of man made material created to mask the symptoms of a disease, to temporarily eliviate a medical problem. The pill inevitably is time stamped to ‘work’ or be effective for a period of time thus the masking effect wears off and you need to take another pill.

Our brave new world with boundless good intentions has opened up a Pandora’s box of genetic mutants that have cancer-causing implications. We are self-inflicting ourselves with poisons that immeasurably produce a hostile environment for our wondrously created immune system. Cancer in my opinion is a man made creation and could be eliminated if we all insisted, no demanded, that only all natural ingredients be added to our food, water, products, and medicine. Individually you can create your own ‘Cancer Free Zone’ by living ‘all natural’ and allowing your body to function as it was intended; “Free and Clean of Foreign Poisons”.

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