Common pesticides block male hormones

I recently read this abstract in Environmental Health Perspectives Magazine (A free resource from the US National Institutes of Health). It is a summary of testing conducted at the School of Pharmacy’s Center for Toxicology under the auspices of the University of London. Naturally the information was so compelling I had to read the entire report (The study report can be read in its entirety here).

Based on their testing, many common pesticides (frequently found in food as well as milk and drinking water) will disrupt testosterone production and uptake in humans and possibly other mammals. The researchers strongly recommended that all pesticides in use today be screened to check if they block testosterone, which is critical to male (and female) reproductive health & general development.

Thirty out of 37 pesticides tested by the University of London team altered or inhibited male hormone activity, including 16 that had no previously reported hormonal effects. Most are fungicides applied to fruit and vegetable crops, including strawberries, corn, wheat, & lettuce.

Traces of pesticides and herbicides are known to remain in fruits and vegetables; these same chemicals can migrate into the ground and contaminate groundwater while also contaminating surface water. Interestingly, certain pesticides and herbicides will travel with water vapor when it evaporates, so that the contamination can travel hundreds or even thousands of miles from where it was originally applied.

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British study finds no eczema cure from softened water

Eczema is a number of chronic inflammatory skin conditions that affect many people around the world. As many as one in nine persons will be diagnosed with eczema at some point in their life. The actual causes of eczema are not entirely understood, but it is generally agreed that it is related to an immune condition.Soap scum can easily create a home for bacteria and other unwanted contaminants on every surface it touches. Since skin is one of the surfaces that soap scum can contaminate, it is easy to understand that soap scum will stick to skin and hair; choking and clogging pores and possibly even causing irritation to sensitive skin.Hard water residue can also accumulate in the fibers of clothing, making them rough and irritating.

It is logical to me that by removing soap scum from my household, it is one further irritant removed from the equation. Soft water is certainly not a cure to dandruff, eczema, skin rash or other health conditions, but it certainly is BETTER than hard water. I recommend that anyone suffering from skin ailments consult with their medical practitioner and remove as many irritants from their lifestyle, like hard water, and chlorine.

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Still drinking your Fluoride?

I read this article on the WEF’s website and it certainly reminded me that the concept of municipal mass-medication is severely flawed. It is incomprehensible to me that anyone in their right mind would attempt to apply a nutritional supplement or medicine through drinking water, since there is no control over the amount of water people drink in a day and there appears to be no consideration give to varying body types, interfering chemicals and consumption volumes. I’m not a doctor, so I am hopelessly unqualified to comment on the merits of ingesting fluoride; if fluoride is good for you and acts as a medicine to protect teeth/bones and has serious overdose side-effects like mottling, fluorosis etc… then it should be applied by a competent medical professional like a doctor or dentist. From my own personal research it appears that topical applications of fluoride are best, instead of ingestion, so I certainly am not interested in me or my family to be drinking fluoride at all. I hope the lesson learned here is that cities shouldn’t attempt mass-medication and instead deliver water that is as clean as possible without adding chemicals to it that could affect human health.

I personally choose not to drink “nutrients” or “medicines” in my water. I’d much rather drink clean, clear delicious water and add nutritional supplements/medicines as necessary in dosages appropriate for my body size and prevailing medical conditions based on the recommendation of my health practitioner.

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Is there less lead in our water now?

The 111th Congress has passed an amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act which creates a federal limit of 0.25% for the maximum lead content of any plumbing component used for potable water intended for human consumption that is smaller than 2″ in diameter. I think that the intent of this bill is good, but it really doesn’t do more than make people feel good and cause a massive increase in the cost of delivered components, especially brass which is very difficult and costly to machine when the lead levels drop that low. Municipal distribution piping is a greater source of lead than the fixtures themselves, and should be addressed as a much higher priority. This bill will become effective in 2013, so expect an influx of high-lead components from China over the next year or two.

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Salt Lake City’s water unsafe, according to EWG

I read this article in the Salt Lake Tribune this morning… The EWG is drawing attention to the presence of Hexavalent Chromium in water supplies nation-wide. Yes, this is an important issue, but one can’t react emotionally to information like this and we certainly don’t need more federal regulation. Since less than 1% of municipally supplied water is actually consumed by humans, why should the other 99% be treated to “drinking” water levels? It just doesn’t make sense!

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