WHAT’S IN THE WATER?

Though ordered to send warning letters by November 2024, Chicago has only notified 7% of residents. Most people have no idea their water may be harmful.

9.2 Million Lead Lines: Where are they?

It’s not just Chicago residents in limbo. Many other towns and cities across the U.S. are in a similar boat, though who and where largely remains a mystery. According to the NRDC, “The EPA’s 2024 analysis of its survey results from thousands of water utilities and state officials estimates that about 9.2 million lead service lines are in use.” 

You can access the Map and zoom in by going to the NRDC site directly

TAKE ACTION TODAY

Instead of waiting for the City to take action, you can protect your family and your health by getting a filter today. Purifying your tap water can be simple and affordable. Any of these filters listed below will remove lead and other disease-causing substances. Any filter is better than none I like to say.

RECORD AMOUNT OF LEAD IN TAP WATER!

The Highest amount of Lead ever recorded was in Flint Michigan where levels averaged between 200 to 13,200 ppb, while other recent record highs include Syracuse, New York at 2,520 ppb. The EPA’s safe threshold currently stands at 15 ppb, but their goal is 0 ppb, for as they state, there’s “No Safe Level”: “EPA notes that even low levels of lead can have health impacts, especially in children, including learning, behavior, and developmental issues.”

While lead lines are still in use, Chicago is saying it may not be until 2076 that lines are replaced! That’s not a typo, and yes, that’s 50 years from now! Do they not understand how harmful lead is for our health?

WHAT’S SO HARMFUL ABOUT LEAD ANYWAY?

In case you question all this worry about lead, here is some information you may find interesting. Lead is a neurotoxin, and a potent heavy metal and endocrine disruptor that accumulates in the human body. Greater exposure, especially prolonged daily exposure, increases risk of health complications. Health risks from heavy metals are on the rise as heavy metal pollution is increasing not just in our water, but in our air, our food, our soil, and in products we use everyday. At the same time, minerals are lacking in our diets and the food supply. This shortage of nutrients in the food supply has had a drastic effect in relation to the heavy metals, and actually has increased the damage posed by heavy metals. You see, heavy metals mimic and compete with essential minerals. When we don’t have enough minerals in our diet guarding the cells in our body, heavy metals sneak in and deceive the cells. This is a very serious attack on our health, for it sets off oxidative stress and bombards our system with free radical damage and inflammation and the storage of heavy metal toxins throughout our body.

As reported by the National Institutes of Health, Essential minerals, particularly zinc, magnesium, selenium, and iron, act as defenders against heavy metal toxicity by competing for absorption and binding sites on cells, preventing toxic accumulation. They support neurological health at the synapse, while sufficient mineral levels inhibit the absorption of toxic metals like cadmium and lead. 

In Summary

When people wonder what’s causing increases in disease today, ranging from the growing presence of cancer in younger people to eruptions in violent behavior like school shootings, I personally feel it comes down to this combination of heavy metal exposure coupled with insufficient mineral intake.

It behooves us to do what we can to limit our family’s exposure to heavy metals, including lead as soon as possible. Until the lead lines providing tap water to our homes are removed, perhaps cities should do a better job in communicating public health concerns to people. Leaders in our communities should be providing residents and visitors with tools to protect their families. Would it be unreasonable to ask for municipalities to waive water bill costs until the lead lines are removed and tap water is once again safe? As shocking as it may seem, this is the green reality.

To your health!

Or as Julia would say, a votre Sante!

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SOURCES

EPA INFORMATION: Lead in Drinking Water

National Institutes of Health: Biomimicry of Heavy Metals

World Health Organization: Lead and Heavy Metal Fact Sheet