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Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOC's) Almost every region in the U.S. has VOC's in the water supplies. Urban areas may get VOC's from industrialization, and rural areas may get VOC's from agriculture. Also, 90% of U.S. drinking water is chlorinated (and most likely contains disinfection by-products); thus, VOC's are practically everywhere. In a recent study by the Environmental Working Group, 28 of 29 cities tested were found to have Herbicides or Pesticides in their tap water. VOC's can cause cancer; kidney, liver, and brain damage; and damage to the nervous, reproductive, and immune systems. Some VOC's are "endocrine impostors" that mimic hormones "triggering biological reactions that wreak havoc in the brain, and in the immune and reproductive systems" (Water Systems News & Home Water). What is especially alarming is that, in many cases, it is not just one VOC at a time that is in tap water. According to the Environmental Working Group, consumers are routinely exposed to multiple VOC's in one glass of tap water. Infants and children are especially at risk because "they drink more water per pound of body weight than adults, and they're still growing, which makes them particularly vulnerable to health risks posed by exposure to these toxic substances," according to David Rall, Ph.D., director of PSR's (Physicians for Social Responsibility) Science and Environmental Health Policy Project.According to the Environmental Working Group, the only reliable technology that can effectively remove VOC's from tap water is Activated Carbon. Public utilities, in most cases, are using only conventional water treatment (chlorination and sand filtration) which does nothing to reduce VOC levels in consumers' tap water (besides the fact that chlorination may introduce other VOC's [disinfection by-products like trihalomethanes] into the drinking water delivered to consumers). Other types of water treatment can not as effectively reduce the VOC's in tap water. Only those systems certified by NSF International for VOC reduction are recommended.  Cysts The only water treatment devices that can effectively filter Crypto are those certified for submicron filtration (less than one micron). Healthy individuals infected by these parasites experience a cholera-like illness: watery diarrhea, headache, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, and low-grade fever. For the immunocompromised, however, the results of infection (with cryptosporidiosis) are much more dire: the parasites can severely damage the liver and respiratory tract, as well as the gall-bladder and pancreas. Even worse, there is a 40 - 50% mortality rate for the immunocompromised who are infected with Cryptosporidium. Those at risk include cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, infants, the elderly, kidney dialysis patients, recent transplant recipients, AIDS patients, and others with suppressed immune systems. To the over 5 million Americans at risk, the CDC and the Environmental Protection Agency have issued a guidance to either boil all of their tap water, invest in certain bottled water, or purchase a filter that is certified by NSF International to remove cysts. As many can attest, boiling all of the tap water can be unduly burdensome. The bottled water alternative also presents problems. Carol Browner, head of the EPA, warned that bottled water is not tested for microbial contaminants like Cryptosporidium, so consumers really don't know what they're getting with bottled water. It just may be the case that point-of-use filtration is the only viable alternative to rid the nation's tap water of these dangerous organisms. Only those filters that are certified under NSF Standard 53 for cyst removal are recommended by the CDC and the EPA. LeadLead, a heavy metal, has no known functions or health benefits for humans. Lead, by its nature, is toxic to humans and other forms of life. It is considered a metabolic poison (meaning it inhibits some of the basic enzyme functions) and untold ills: damage to the kidneys and liver, and to the nervous, reproductive, cardiovascular, immune, and gastrointestinal systems. In children, as scientists have recognized, lead has a particularly damaging effect. At low levels, it reduces a person's intelligence, makes it difficult to concentrate or pay attention, and harms hearing. According to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, lead may be even more dangerous than previously thought, causing high blood pressure and kidney impairment at unexpectedly low levels. The lead level proved more closely linked to hypertension than several other factors that have been implicated in other studies, including smoking, alcohol, and salt in the diet. These effects are permanent. At higher levels, lead has many additional severe effects including kidney disease, blindness, seizures, and death. In young or unborn children, at very low levels, lead reduces height, weight, circumference of chest and head; damages hearing; reduces the body's ability to manufacture an essential component of red blood cells (called heme); causes hyperactivity; interferes with an important blood enzyme; and interferes with the body's use of vitamin D. Lead consumption in childhood can lead to a lower IQ and impairment in reading, writing, math, visual and motor skills, language, abstract thinking, and concentration. Children may also suffer irritability, insomnia, colic, and anemia. Damage to the child's nervous system is permanent. Children are particularly susceptible to lead's toxic effects because they absorb lead more readily than adults do. Lead can also cross the placental barrier, passing from a pregnant woman's blood to the blood of the fetus; red blood cells of fetuses attract and hold lead more readily than do red cells of adults.What is even more frightening is recent discoveries about the dangers of lead poisoning for children. Exposure to the toxic metal may contribute to crime and anti-social behavior in children. Boys with high levels of lead in their bones were more likely to engage in bullying, vandalism, setting fires, and shoplifting than those with low lead levels. According to Dr. Herbert Needleman, a psychiatrist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, "Lead is a brain poison that interferes with the ability to restrain impulses." Lead is known to interfere with development of the central nervous system, and previous studies have linked exposure in children with learning disabilities, restlessness, and the tendency to be distracted. As a result of this new study, the researchers concluded that limiting children's exposure to lead could help prevent them from becoming criminals as adults. According to Dr. Peter Montague of the Environmental Research Foundation, studies have found that lead in water is possibly the largest source of lead in the human blood stream. But how does lead get into our water? Lead is commonly found in water service lines. Older homes may have lead pipes that leach lead into the water. Newer homes may have copper pipes, but those copper pipes may also be joined with lead solder which may also leach lead into the water. If you suspect that lead is in your drinking water, you should have your water tested. Data obtained from your local public water utility may not be of help, since most lead is picked up after the water has left the public water facilities. Public utilities are advising households that have high levels of lead in their tap water to invest in a water filter that can effectively reduce lead. MercuryLike lead, mercury is a heavy metal that can have serious health effects. It is an inorganic contaminant that may get into water supplies via natural deposits or through crop run-off or may seep into water supplies near spills and toxic waste sites that are contaminated with mercury. Once mercury has entered the body, it may be months before all of it leaves. At lower levels, Mercury can cause kidney and nervous system disorders. Long-term exposure can permanently damage the brain, kidneys, and developing fetuses. According to the Hall Water Report, "Pressure is building for EPA to release an overdue report on mercury that suggests the metal is more potent and widespread as a public health threat than previously believed, estimating that 85,000 American women are being exposed to mercury at levels high enough to affect the brain development of unborn children." Endocrine Disrupters According to the Environmental Working Group, the only reliable technology that can effectively remove Volatile Organic Chemicals, including certain Endocrine Disrupters, from tap water is Activated Carbon. Public utilities, in most cases, are using only conventional water treatment (chlorination and sand filtration) which does nothing to reduce Endocrine Disrupter levels in consumers' tap water . Other types of water treatment can not as effectively reduce Endocrine Disrupters in tap water. Trihalomethanes (and other Disinfection By-Products) Asbestos is an inorganic compound, found both naturally in the environment and in building materials. Asbestos is a proven carcinogen, and it has been suggested that there may be an elevation in colorectal cancer risk associated with asbestos in drinking water where the naturally occurring levels are high. Turbidity Chlorine according to Doris J. Rapp, M.D., author of Is This your Child's World? exposure to chlorine in tap water, showers, sewage systems and many others, can effect health by contributing to asthma, hay fever, anemia, bronchitis, circulatory collapse, confusion, delirium diabetes, dizziness, irritation of the eye, mouth, nose throat, lung, skin and stomach, heart disease, high blood pressure and nausea. It is also a possible cause of cancer.  For More Information about Our Company, Our Outstanding
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Remember: yoU should think... About the Water yoU Drink! Is it safe? Why buy questionable water anywhere else, when you can effectively filter your own for pennies a gallon? "You'll save more with Gallimore - The Affordable Alternative To Bottled Water". If you don't have a water filter, YOU are the filter. 
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