The World Health Organization announced it is going to review the potential risks of plastics in drinking water after studies found micro particles in popular bottled brands.
The bottled water industry reached sales figures of $147 billion/year and spent advertising dollars on images of health and well-being, but a new survey conducted by the global journalism organization Orb Media and supervised by a leading micro-plastics researcher at the State University of New York in Fredonia revealed that 93% of the tested bottled water from 11 brands bought at 19 locations in nine countries around the world was contaminated with micro-plastics.
The study listed the brands that contained more particles than others – NestléPure Life had 930 micro-plastics per liter and Gerolsteiner had 807 micro-plastics per liter. San Pellegrino and Minalba had the lowest level of contamination with 30 and 63 respectively.
The question experts are asking is, “Can ingesting small amounts of these contaminants be unsafe?” Over time maybe, but the answer from toxicologists is that they are still in the early stages of research and figuring out the potential threat to human health.
I wanted to learn more about sources of water and filtration, so I tracked down a company, Pristine Hydro, located in Laguna Niguel, California, whose patent-pending holistic filtration process claims to eliminate 100% of contaminates.
I was drawn to the site because the company partners with several well-respected whole food, organic, and raw food brands in Southern California. It also has well-known athletes and health advocates who were photographed on its website. Athletes like surfer Kelly Slater and former Green Bay Packers linebacker Robert Francois as well as author, raw food spokesman, and entrepreneur David Wolfe were all pictured on the website as clients using the system.
The information on the Pristine Hydro website breaks down the current water drinking options that people have and their effects.
Spring Water: When rainwater falls from the clouds as rain, it falls through air filled with bacteria, dust, smoke, smog, chemicals, minerals, gases, and radioactive fallout.
Water Ionizer: This removes acids from tap water; however, the water is still loaded with the same contaminates found in the source water such as fluoride, heavy metals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and disinfection byproducts.
Bottled Water: Quality is unregulated. Over 24,500 chemicals have been found in plastic bottled water. Plastic wastes are harmful to the environment.
Reverse Osmosis: Removes most contaminates, except acids (which are liquids) and gasses such as sulfuric and nitric acids (acid rain), hydrofluorosilicic acid (industrial waste fluoride), hypochlorous and hydrochloric acids (chlorine reactions), and haloacetic acids (chlorine and bromine reactions). In turn, reverse osmosis produces aggressive acidic water that is void of bicarbonate salts.
Distilled Water: Rising steam is supposed to leave all impurities behind in the distilling process, but in fact gases, some chemicals, and some organic compounds are taken along with the steam. Distilling does not remove acids, chlorine, or chloramine, which are liquids and gasses. In fact, in the 1950s, distilled water was sold in drug stores with the label “Not for Drinking.” It was predominantly used to fill car batteries and steam irons.
Carbon Block Filter: Insufficient as a stand-alone filter; produces acidic water that is loaded with contaminants.
Tap Water: Not recommended for drinking, as it is acidic and chemically treated lifeless water that contains many contaminants including sulfuric, nitric, hydrofluorosilicic, haloacetic, hypochlorous, and hydrochloric acids; fluoride, heavy metals, chlorine/chloramine, disinfectant byproducts, pharmaceuticals, etc.
Staying hydrated is one of the most important things you can do for your health, but so is being smart about the source of your water. Invest in your health and purchase a non-toxic glass or stainless steel bottle to ensure your safety.
Here’s to your health!
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