It turns out that unregulated pesticides in drinking water are more dangerous than previously known.
For some years I’ve been warning about the presence of unregulated pesticides in drinking water. This occurs where there is farming upstream of you if your water supply is a river. (example: Mississippi River) It can also happen if your water comes from wells and there is farming nearby. (example: Central Valley of California). These unregulated pesticides, a class known as neonicotinoids, were discovered in every river in the Midwest. See my own article here in 2014:
https://bestwaterpurificationblog.com/insecticide-in-midwest-rivers/
when chlorine is added to water containing these neonicotinoids another more harmful set of compounds is produced
Now it turns out that scientists have discovered when chlorine is added to water containing these neonicotinoids another more harmful set of compounds is produced. This happens when water is treated with chlorine at your city’s water treatment plant before being distributed to you. A summary of the article is available here.
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.estlett.8b00706?journalCode=estlcu&
Because these pesticides are not regulated by USEPA you will not find them in your water quality report. That’s why I always look at the source of your water before moving on to the chart of regulated contaminants. If there is farming upstream of you, then they are present. We’re learning now for the first time that there’s another class of compounds that are more harmful to the human body than the pesticides themselves. Please read the article at the link above for details.
you really have to protect yourself
All this reinforces my caution that you really have to protect yourself and especially your children. There is little wonder about the prevalence of cancers today when we are continually poisoning ourselves with the water we drink and the food we eat.
If you read my post the other day about mycobacteria (in your pipes and shower heads) or if you’ve read about pharmaceuticals in water or micro plastics (egads! When does it end?) then your optimum level of protection would consist of a whole house water filter like my Urban Defender, Ultra Violet Light, and Reverse Osmosis at the kitchen sink.
Some places don’t have all these contaminants. So before you gear up be sure to look at your local water report and check your water source. Places like Seattle and San Francisco had the foresight to set aside high quality drinking water sources. Where I live the water is also good, consisting of rain and snow melt.
