You might think Samuel Taylor Coleridge had transported himself from the eighteenth century into the present time using a time-travel machine when he wrote, “Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” Our water supply has increasingly become contaminated with various pollutants and shows no sign of improveing in the near future.

According to Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald, “Th e Environmental Working Group and Natural Resources Council have jointly estimated that one-fi fth of the American population drink tap water containing lead, fecal material, toxic waste and/or other pollutants.”

You might be surprised to learn exactly what is found in your water supply. Over a hundred studies on tap water worldwide found that pharmaceutical drugs often escape water treatment. Th ese studies found cholesterol reducers, painkillers, chemotherapy drugs, antibiotics, beta blockers, Prozac, and anti-seizure medications in tap water after it had been purifi ed by city and town water treatment facilities.
One of the main substances found in water is chlorine. It is not the safe stuff most people believe it to be. We are so accustomed to hearing that our water supply is chlorinated that we think nothing of it. Yet in numerous studies conducted by Harvard University in conjunction with the Medical College of Wisconsin, researchers linked the consumption of chlorinated water to 15 percent of all rectal cancers and 9 percent of all bladder cancers.

Even if you purify your drinking water, you are at risk of absorbing chlorine through your skin. In a study published by the American Journal of Public Health and conducted by the Massachusetts Department of Energy researchers found that 50 to 70 percent of exposure to water pollutants in adults occurs through the skin.

That’s right—you absorb water pollutants through your skin while showering or bathing. Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald cites a New Jersey study that showed elevated breath levels of chloroform in people hours after they had taken a shower. She adds, “Taking a shower exposes you to as much as six times the chloroform (a toxic compound in chlorinated water) through steam as you would absorb from drinking treated water.”

And what about that lovely bleachy smell we attribute to pool water? You guessed it: swimming in chlorinated water is another way that we absorb toxins through our skin. If you own a pool, ozone is preferred to toxic chemicals to purify the water.
If you live in an older home that has lead pipes or lead solder used on copper pipes, the lead can leach into your drinking water.

“In a classic study, John Yiamouyiannis, Ph.D., compared cancer death rates in the largest fl uoridated and non-fl uoridated cities in the U.S. Th e rates were similar in both cities before fl uoride was first introduced in 1953, but then rose noticeably in the study areas where fluoride was used. Indeed, a researcher at the NationalCancer.

Institute has concluded that fl uoride causes more cancer deaths than any other chemical—blaming it for an estimated 61,000 cases of cancer in 1995. Other scientists warn that additional sources of fluoride (toothpastes, pesticide residues, etc.) in combination with treated water can result in toxic levels of exposure and a weakening of teeth and bones.”

In 1996, over 45 million pounds of chemicals were discharged into surface waters, including lakes and rivers that supply drinking water.By 2000, that amount had risen to 260 million pounds-six times as much! Th is ongoing and voluminous amount of water pollution threatens our water supply. If you are counting on city water fi ltration systems to eliminate these toxic waste products, think again. Most city and town water purification facilities are not capable of eliminating the thousands of diff erent chemicals now readily found in water.

According to research conducted by the American Chemical Society, exposure to chemicals by inhaling air in and around the shower is up to a hundred times greater than by drinking water. As you will learn in the next chapter, the chemicals that you inhale in the shower are not the only ones to be concerned about.