Water Quality, Plastics and Xenoestrogens
You can access an audio recording of this post here
Water is one of those things that reminds me of my intrinsic connection to the living world of which we are a part. The ocean - the great body of water in which life on earth originated.
Our bodies are composed of about 60% water. We are water.
What’s happening to water on the planet is happening to us.
With the research that came out this past week on microplastics in bottled water, I figure it’s a good time to talk WATER QUALITY. And what we can do about it.
Microplastics were recently found in much higher levels in bottled water than previously considered. Of course, microplastics are being found in in a lot of places these days. Seawater being one of the most concerning.
Why is this a concern 🧐 and even more importantly, what’s a person to do 🤔
Microplastics belong to a category of chemicals identified as xenoestrogens – a class of endocrine disrupting chemicals.
These chemicals are wreaking havoc not only with aquatic life on the planet, but they are also wreaking havoc with our hormones, our detoxification pathways - interfering with liver function and increasing our risk of chronic disease. They have been found to increase our risk of breast and prostate cancer, interfere with sexual development in utero and cause sperm levels in adult males to plummet over the past century
….. to name just a few interesting effects these substances are having on our bodies.
In addition to plastics, some of the most common xenoestrogens include bisphenols, phthalates, PCBs, flame retardants (found in most mattresses and often in curtains and other household items), many commonly used agricultural pesticides – fungicides and herbicides.
The list includes the forever chemicals - PFAS - extremely toxic chemicals which have become ubiquitous in our environment and used in such things as water repellents and most non-stick cookware.
Health and beauty products are often laden with xenoestrogens in the form of such things as synthetic fragrances and parabens.
Whether we are exposed to them through common household and health and beauty products, or whether we are consuming them in our food and water supply – we are exposed and they are creating problems with our health.
And if you think you’re off scott free because you are drinking well water - even well water is being contaminated with these chemicals. The popular tests to check for well water quality do not check for these common contaminants, so they are rarely identified.
What’s a person to do?
If you have health concerns or if you want to optimize your health and do what you can to prevent chronic disease – I highly recommend filtering your water.
WATER FILTRATION OPTIONS
There are lots of water filtration systems out there. The common Brita filters and water filters on your fridge are not cutting it. Even the popular Berkey filter has concerning drawback in that it does not adequately remove glyphosate residues.
To this day, the BEST OPTION for water filtration is still reverse osmosis, as much as it has its limitations and drawbacks. But doesn’t everything in life.
There are no ideals in this world where we have peed in our nest…..
If you are interested in installing a reverse osmosis system in your home, here are a few pointers to consider:
· Reverse osmosis water can waste a lot of water in the filtering process, so look for a high efficiency system which limits water waste.
· Reverse osmosis holding tanks can harbour mold. In addition, the tanks are plastic and they are almost impossible to clean. The best systems are flow through system where the water does not sit and collect in a tank.
· Reverse osmosis removes EVERYTHING from the water including the minerals – so one might want to consider best options for remineralizing. More on this in an upcoming post.
THE BIG PICTURE
Of course, water is only one of the ways we are being exposed to xenoestrogens. Are there other ways in which your daily life choices bump up against these kinds of issues? How else might you reduce your plastic use and xenoestrogen exposure in the long run? What might be some of the best ways to support the body’s work eliminating these types of chemicals? These are a number of the topics that we will be exploring over the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned to learn more.
Oh yeah… and forget the bottled water.
