Toxic Tap Water is Endangering Your Health. EPA Does Nothing.

Sept. 14, 2009 - PRLog -- A deadly weed killer that is a known carcinogenic has been showing up in drinking water across the US at levels that exceed EPA standards. In the South, heavy metal runoff from the coal industry has been poisoning whole communities. Meanwhile, the U.S. Geological Survey states that more than 20 percent of private domestic wells sampled nationwide contain at least one contaminant at levels of potential health concern, while new research shows that an estimated one in ten Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals or fails to meet a federal health benchmark in other ways.

What does this mean for the average American? Although no one knows what the health impact is on the chemical cocktails we are more frequently consuming in our water and foods, most reputable experts call the data alarming.  As Dr. Linda S. Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, put it: “We don’t really know what these chemicals do.”

What we do know, however, is that whatever they do it can't be good for us. In fact, recent studies suggest that even at concentrations meeting current federal standards, many of these chemicals are associated with birth defects, mood disorders, anxiety, nervous disorders, headaches, low energy and cancer.

And it's not just our water. Increasingly heavy metals and toxins are showing up in our food, our beverages, our cosmetics and our herbal supplements. Health and environmental advocates as well as government's own Government Accountability Office have criticized the EPA and lawmakers arguing that the laws safeguarding drinking water and policing toxins are insufficient, and that the EPA is often too slow in evaluating emerging risks, not cautious enough and too unwilling to warn the public when health concerns arise.

The consequences have been confirmed by a slew of recent studies that show that on average, Americans have over 100 known deadly toxins in the cells of their bodies at any given time, which is why health experts are now suggesting that people detoxify by using infusions that act on a cellular level to help purge the body of toxins.

"Our grandparents were not exposed to a fraction of the toxins we are," said Sarah Richards, owner of http://www.homegrownherbandtea.com located in Portland, Maine. Richards, who practices Ayurvedic Medicine, has noticed a recent rise in sales of her Liver Toner and Digestive Cleanse, two organic teas designed to aide the body in purging toxins from the digestive track, liver and cells. "I think people are beginning to realize they need to detox."

Supplement manufacturers selling their own "detoxing" formulas have seen a similar increase in sales, and new products are rushing into the market weekly. But according to a Notre Dame study, cleansing products are up against the same toxicity problems as the one they claim to fight. According to the study, thirty percent of supplements randomly surveyed were found to contain dangerous levels of heavy metals and toxins. The study pointed to the absence of regulation and farming  practices within the supplement industry, which more often than not imports herbs from China and India.

"What is in a supplement, anyway?" Richards said. "Crushed herbal dust from who knows where and maybe some extract. Herbs were not intended to be digested this way and they certainly lose their potency when they are made into pills. If people want to detoxify - and they should because they'll feel ten times better and be more healthy - they need to use real, fresh herbs grown by organic farmers and activated in hot water - not swallow some pill manufactured by a machine somewhere in China. "

Homegrown Herb and Tea is located in Portland, Maine and is located online at http://www.homegrownherbandtea.com

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Homegrown Herb and Tea is an herbal tea apothecary located in Portland, Maine and online at http://www.homegrowntea.com. It serves wellness tea, Ayurvedic teas and specialty teas.