Are You Using A Brita or Pur Water Filter For Your Drinking Water?

What do these plastic pitchers actually do?

Pour-Through-Carafe’s are primarily taste & odor filters.

• They offer very limited effectiveness in removing contaminants of health concern, with the exception of lead.
• They filter a limited amount of water at one time.
  
• They are sold on the “Polaroid principal” – that is to sell the camera cheap & make it up on the film sales. At first glance, the pitchers seem an inexpensive solution, however after replacing the filter every 40 gallons, the cost per gallon is quite high.
  
• Consumer reports testing of carafe’s found some of them began clogging halfway through the life of the water filter, so that it took a full hour to filter a quart of water. They also found that carafe’s, like the Brita & Pur, removed only about half the pollutants after just 20 gallons.
  
• You have to refrigerate the water after you filter it. Once you take out the chlorine, bacteria can start to grow in your pitcher.
  
• One of my clients called me the other day, looking for a better solution and said to me: "I am using a brita pitcher. I have to change the filter every 2 months. I also have to scrub it our every month because algae starts growing in it".

For Information on effective water filters: www.healerwoman.org

Midwives & Doulas - Teach Your Clients About The Importance Of Safe Drinking Water

Miscarriage & Birth Defects: The first ever nationwide assessment of Chlorinated-By-Products, known as CBP's, in drinking water - Consider The Source - released by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) & U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG), shows that:

Hundreds of thousands of pregnant women are at elevated risk of miscarriage or having children with birth defects because of drinking municipal water containing a CBP, known as THM's, or Trihalomethanes. The level at which studies show an association with low birth weight of babies is 10ppb. Epidemiological studies have found increased incidence of birth defects in women drinking water containing only 40 ppb THMs. The EPA regulates CBP @ 80ppb.

For Free Report, go to: www.healerwoman.org/family

Pregnant Women Are Particularly Vulnerable to Tap Water Contaminants

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CHLORINATED-BY-PRODUCTS (CBP’s or DBP’s) IN THE DRINKING WATER OF PREGNANT WOMEN

What Exactly Is Chlorine? Chlorine chemistry starts with ordinary salt - sodium chloride - a stable, natural substance. The chemical industry creates chlorine gas by passing huge quantities of electricity through salt-water. It was the first poison gas to be used as a weapon during World War I. Chlorine is the common link in many of the world’s most notorious & highly persistent poisons: dioxin, DDT, agent orange, PCBs, lindane, and CFCs. It is an acutely volatile poison, toxic to aquatic animals, & capable of combining with nearly all other elements, forming unknown numbers of chemical by-products..

The History Of Chlorine: Chlorine was first added to the nations drinking water in the early 1900's to control the spread of typhoid, cholera and other diseases. Our municipal water-treatment facilities were built for the purpose of disinfecting water, not purifying it. Most medical researchers were originally led to believe chlorine was safe, but now we are learning that even though we were preventing epidemics, we were also creating other far more toxic substances. Scientists discovered that chlorine reacted with organic material in the water (decaying leaves, pesticide runoff, etc.) to produce hundreds of chemical byproducts, many of which have been proven to be carcinogenic, and cause miscarriage & birth defects.

What Are Chlorinated By-Products? Chlorine purifies water because it is attracted to all things organic. As enthusiastically as it hunts down microbes, it also seeks wisps of algae, decaying leaves and other organic matter. When chlorine is used to treat water, it doesn't disappear, but produces hundreds of new compounds, now known as Chlorinated-By-Products, or CBP’s. CBP’s form when chlorine reacts with "natural organic matter" in the water. This “natural organic matter” includes sewage, soil, plant material, manure eroding from pasture and range lands, commercial fertilizers, algae, and pesticide runoff.

CBP’s Occur In 90% Of Rural & Urban Municipal Water Supplies
The Current EPA Standard In Our Drinking Water Is 80 ppb
Miscarriage & Birth Defects: The first ever nationwide assessment of chlorination byproducts in drinking water – Consider The Source - released by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) & U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG), shows that hundreds of thousands of pregnant women are at elevated risk of miscarriage or having children with birth defects because of drinking municipal water containing a CBP, known as THM’s, or Trihalomethanes. The level at which studies show an association with low birth weight of babies is 10ppb. Epidemiological studies have found increased incidence of birth defects in women drinking water containing only 40 ppb THMs.

Cancer Human studies show elevated risk varying from 1 - 38% for 11 cancers: bladder, brain, breast, colon, rectal, esophagus, kidney, liver, lung, pancreas. The strongest associations are with bladder & rectal cancers. In 1998, Dr. Kenneth Cantor, head of the National Cancer Institute, summarized available human studies for colon, rectal, and bladder cancer. 12 of the 13 studies conducted showed increased risk of bladder cancer. A few of the studies showed a 50-80% increased risk for bladder cancer among people drinking water with THM levels of 50ppb. The current EPA standard is 80ppb

As Of 11/2004, 600 CBP’s Have Been Identified By Scientists - Our Municipal Systems Regulate 6 Of These !

What are Trihalomethanes (THM’s) ? Of the more than 100 cbp’s found in public water supplies, only four chemicals called THM’s are tested. THM’s, such as chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, bromoform, & benzene,, are the most prevalent cbp in chlorinated surface water supplies. These mutations are collectively labeled THM's. They are extremely dangerous, and occur in about 90% of municipal water supplies.

Most studies of the health effects of CBP’s have been limited by the fact that water suppliers are required to test for THM’s only 4x/yr. For researchers studying first-trimester miscarriages, this means that just a single value for THMs is available to serve as a measure of a woman's exposure to the entire spectrum of CBP’s in her tap water. Limited exposure data masks the full magnitude of health effects. The health risks associated with CBP’s in our drinking water are real.

For Free Report, go to: www.healerwoman.org/family

Why Do Pregnant Women & Children Need Safe Drinking Water?

WHY DO PREGNANT WOMEN NEED SAFE WATER ?
Health experts consider water to the most important nutrient during pregnancy & breast feeding because water:

• replenishes amniotic fluid
• is essential to good breast milk production
• dilutes urine, reducing the risk of bladder infections
• contains minerals, essential to the baby's development
• carries these nutrients to your baby through the blood
• helps prevent constipation, hemorrhoids, and swelling
• dehydration can trigger contractions & early labor
• dehydration interferes with the body's ability to rid itself of waste products

The quality of water is of great concern in a world laced with chemicals, many of which find their way into our drinking water.

WHY DO INFANTS NEED SAFE WATER ?
Studies show water contamination risks are greatly increased for infants, due to their size & development. Environmental contaminants contribute greatly to the incidence of birth defects & developmental disorders.

WHY DO CHILDREN NEED SAFE WATER ?
Studies have found that children who are dehydrated do not work as well in the classroom as those who have consumed 8 glasses a day. All brain activity is neurological and is a chemical activity, which doesn't function without water.

World Health Organization (WHO) Says That Children Bear The Heaviest Burden Of Environmental Disease

• 3 million children under the age of 5 die each year from environmental hazards.
• Children's immune systems & detoxification mechanisms are not fully developed, so they are especially vulnerable to chemical, physical, & biological hazards.
• WHO says 40% of the global burden of disease due to environmental risk factors, fall on children under 5, even though they are only 10% of the population.

This information is not meant to scare you, but to alert you, so that you may take action to protect your family & loved ones.
Effective Water Filtration - Is The Most Important Health Decisions You Can Make !

For Free Report, go to: www.healerwoman.org/family