Pinellas County's water contains many things besides fluoride
31.12.69
Dozens of people have spoken out at meetings against Pinellas County adding fluoride to the water supply, an outcry that helped trigger the county's attention-grabbing decision to stop fluoridating Dec. 31.
But on any day, small levels of other contaminants, such as radium, arsenic and copper, turn up in the same water. None of them came up in hours of debate this month.
Just as the vast majority of health officials say the fluoride in water is safe, so have federal and state regulators found nothing harmful in the testing for other substances by county utilities. But those contaminants can be dangerous at much higher amounts.
"If we tried to remove everything from drinking water — I mean everything — it would be horrendously expensive and the health effects would be negligible," said county water and sewer director Bob Powell, who has been a chemist and lab director for more than 30 years with Pinellas.
For example, radium is radioactive and exists in tiny levels in the county's water. The amount found in a county analysis of its drinking water was below federal limits, but above the goal of zero in 2010.
Source: Tampabay.com
Dr. Jacqueline Gerhart: There's good and bad to using reverse osmosis water ...
31.12.69
Approximately 12 years ago we installed a reverse osmosis
drinking water system in our home. Recently, we heard a radio
program in which the guest stated that reverse osmosis systems are
declining in popularity because they remove the minerals as well
the impurities from the water. The radio guest also said that
long-term consumption of de-mineralized water had negative health
effects. Is de-mineralized water really harmful?
Tough question! To learn more, I contacted the UW-Madison
College of Engineering, and referenced the World Health
Organization's report on water sanitation and demineralization.
Here's what I learned:
Reverse osmosis systems use pressure to push water through tiny
pores, to create "pure water." In the process, chemicals, bacteria,
and minerals are filtered through different membranes and carbon
filters.
Drinking water treated with reverse osmosis or other filtration
systems has many advantages:
If you are on a camping trip, traveling in another country, or
in an area with bacteria or parasite-laden water, reverse osmosis
systems allow contaminant removal, and safe drinking water. If you
live in an area with heavy pesticides and herbicides use, reverse
osmosis can remove these substances from your water. The U.S.
military has used reverse osmosis systems to change salt water into
fresh water for troops, and some countries use this technology
during floods and relief efforts.
Source: Capital Times (blog)
In the first years, rates of tooth atrophy among the prepubescent dropped by 60 percent in communities that adopted fluoridation. My sons, who consumed fluoridated water in reconstituted wring and orange extract as well as in tap water, completed teens with and more »
Rena Iliades suggested water fluoridation should be up to the consumer. Lesley McMillan agreed, stating it should be each human being's choice. Other residents like Sandra Camm say they are spending tidy amounts of ready money on filters and water tanks to and more »
