Dr. David Minkoff’s Health Blog, Health & Wellness

Know Your Water…

Drops of water poured into glass recipients

I think most of us as humans, naturally trust. We naturally trust what is said to us. We naturally trust our families, our loved ones and even our governments, whether global or local. I am not saying that governments aren’t trustworthy as that’s another issue. I think that as a group they are well-meaning individuals who show up to work like you and I, and often only do what they are told.

The reason I am saying this is because I think of the rise in cancers, Auto Immune illness and psychiatric illnesses. The rise in all of it. The rise in all of the chaos in the world. The rise in the mass shootings. It’s all one big soup pot that we are in the mix of. The only way I see that we can rise above the mass population, in consciousness, in behavior and in impact on humanity is through knowledge. Knowledge is the way out.

One topic that I would like to discuss that has come to light recently is the report produced by EWG (Environmental Working Group). An advocacy group that addresses global issues of concern. From environmental to chemical to household contaminants and more.

EWG evaluated drinking water for many toxicities. The one that I am referring to which has been brought to light recently is a likely carcinogen named, 1,4-dioxane.

1,4-dioxane is a likely carcinogen as mentioned before. I just want to make sure you got that!

This chemical was found in over 90 million Americans drinking supplies and thousands of personal care products. It is unregulated in water and personal skin care products.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established a safe limit in water back in 2013 of being 0.35 parts per billion. This is the first of 10 chemicals that the EPA will start evaluating and testing. The fellow who is now head of the program who studies these chemicals, states that people can be exposed to levels 1000s times stronger than the baseline limit and it can still be considered safe.

From 2010-2015, 1,4-dioxane was found in over 1,000 water systems.  Over 1000 more water systems receive their water from these larger systems where it was originally detected.

According to the EWG:
“Ranking the most-contaminated water systems, hot spots include the Cape Fear River basin in North Carolina, affecting Fayetteville and surrounding communities; southeastern Los Angeles County, Calif.; and New York’s Long Island. Samples from water systems serving those areas had average levels of 1,4-dioxane ranging from four times to about 17 times the EPA’s increased cancer risk level”

An area in Long Island as well as Minnesota, have had to shut down wells due to high contaminant levels.

This chemical 1,4-dioxane, comes from wastewater discharges, as well as facilities where plastics and solvents have been made or used. It is said that tracing it can be a challenge because it can travel and leach underground.

This chemical can cause cancer, liver and kidney damage, eye irritation, lung irritation and skin problems. Pregnant workers exposed to this chemical reported an increase in pregnancy loss, still births and birth defects in newborns.  However, it is unclear whether these particular complications are due to this chemical alone or a host of chemicals the worker would be exposed to in their environment.

To give you an idea of the pervasiveness of this chemical, it was found in shampoos, soaps, bubble baths, foaming baths, laundry detergents and lotions. 2/3 of bath products tested in 2009, were found to have 1,4-dioxane (1). In addition, Hong Kong’s Consumer Council did a surveillance of this chemical and tested 60 shampoos, many from the US and found 1,4-dioxane in 63% of the samples (2).

Because of the pervasiveness of this chemical, the FDA (Federal Drug Agency) has recommended a process called “vacuum stripping”.  This process actually removes the chemical from the products but to this point, there is no way to tell what companies are actually utilizing the FDA’s recommendation.

A few states are not waiting.  They are setting their own standards when the chemical is being detected to have officials be notified. One state, NY, has asked to have this chemical banned from personal care products.

If the reader is interested, there is a vast database at EWG’s website. This even includes typing in your zip code and pulling up the evaluation of your local water supplies information.  There is also an interactive map for only 1,4-dioxane.

As far as LifeWorks is concerned, we have an AMAZING test that will look for certain chemicals, toxins and byproducts in your body, as well as many, many options of how to treat it. We are not only always looking for the most effective treatments, we have the most effective treatments. These range from ozone through intravenous and sauna to homeopathic remedies to support the body in drainage and detoxification to herbs, to name a few. With the growing concerns in the environment, not only can we just avoid contaminants and do our best this way, it seems more evident that we must be proactive in treating to stay in front of the environmental impact upon our body.

LifeWorks can be a valuable part of your team in supporting you through this.

Set up an appointment today!

To your health,
Jennifer Baer, ARNP