Tainted Water

Susan Brannon
26 July 2011
We cannot trust our government leaders, corporations, and the USDA in regards to our public health.  Not only is our government aware of the possible side effect of GMO consumable products, they are also aware of the drugs inserted into our drinking water systems. 

Studies have shown that the use of fluoride (sodium fluoride) in water has caused liver cancer and lowers our IQ's while inducing mental problems.  Cancer has developed in cows and rat studies.  66% of our water is fluorided while 98% of Europe rejected flourided water.

There was a five month water study in fifty states and fifty cities.  Twenty-four of those were major cities with a total population of 41 million Americans.  Here is what they found:
acetaminophen
mood stabilizers
angina/heart medication
sex hormones
In a river in Colorado the fish turned from male to females because of the amount of sex hormones in the water.

Another study of drinking water in 35 cities across the United States has revealed that most (31 out of the 35 tested) contain hexavalent chromium, a chemical which the National Institutes of Health has deemed a "probable" carcinogen. According to the Washington Post,   "Hexavalent chromium has long been known to cause lung cancer when inhaled, but scientists only recently found evidence that it causes cancer in laboratory animals when ingested. It has been linked in animals to liver and...
kidney damage as well as leukemia, stomach cancer and other cancers." The chemical is used in the manufacture of dyes and plastics as well as chrome plating.

The use of pesticides and herbicides has become so excessive that they are now found, with alarming frequency, in household tap water and bottled water.

A 1998 study of 29 major U.S. cities by the Environmental Working Group found that all 29 cities had traces of at least one weed killer in the drinking water. The report, titled "Weed Killers By The Glass," concluded, "Millions of Americans are routinely exposed to one or more pesticides in a single glass of tap water."

These first ever "tap water tests" found two or more pesticides in the drinking water of 27 of the 29 cities‚ three or more in 24 cities‚ four or more in 21 cities‚ five or more in 18 cities‚ six or more in 13 cities, and seven or more pesticides in the tap water of 5 major U.S. cities. In Fort Wayne‚ Indiana‚ nine different pesticides were found in a single glass of tap water! (Aquasanastore)

U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water _ contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked. (Huffington Post)

The National Toxicology Program has concluded that hexavalent chromium (also called chromium-6) in drinking water shows “clear evidence of carcinogenic activity” in laboratory animals, increasing the risk of gastrointestinal tumors. In September 2010, a draft toxicological review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) similarly found that hexavalent chromium in tap water is “likely to be carcinogenic to humans.”

At least 74 million Americans in 42 states drink chromium-polluted tap water, much of it likely in the cancer-causing hexavalent form. The highest levels were in Norman, Okla.; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Riverside, Calif. The EPA has not set a legal limit for hexavalent chromium in tap water nationally and does not require water utilities to test for it. (Environmental Working Group)

Almost four decades after Congress passed the Clean Water Act, the rate of water pollution violations is rising steadily. In the past five years, companies and workplaces have violated pollution laws more than 500,000 times. But the vast majority of polluters have escaped punishment. (NYT)

To repair our water system will be costly.  Many of the piping systems are old, the wastewater treatment plants do not have the money nor updated facilities needed to filter out the waste.  Corporations dump toxins into the rivers while the EPA looks the other way.  Farming is a concern because of the livestock waste that gets spread over the fields and leaks into the groundwater compromising rural drinking wells.  Americans put weedkiller over their gardens and grass which leaks into the water tables.  Not to mention the GMO production that has the increased use of weed killers distributed into both our soil and food supply. Our nations largest polluters are outside the EPAs reach because the supreme court left certain waterways protected from the Clean Water Act.

In light of our falling economy, there is not enough money to clean up our water act and update our systems build decades ago. The answer? Is to hold the corporations, hospitals and farmers accountable for their actions by enforcing the clean water act by cleaning up their dump sites and ways to dispose of waste.  By doing this, will reduce the stress on the local treatment plants and reduce the amount of toxins seeping into our water tables.
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