The CDC (Center for Disease Control) tells us that the presence of contaminants in water can lead to adverse health effects. These illnesses include gastrointestinal illness, reproductive problems, and neurological disorders. They further say that infants, young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people whose immune systems are compromised because of AIDS, chemotherapy, or transplant medications, may be especially susceptible to illness from some contaminants.
The CDC Top 10 List of Diseases Caused by Outbreaks in Public Water Systems*
Giardia
Legionella
Norovirus
Shigella
Campylobacter
Copper (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=205&tid=37)
Salmonella
Hepatitis A
Cryptosporidium
E. coli, excess fluoride (tie)
If you listen to the news, Americans care more than ever about what we put in our bodies. Fats, additives, cholesterol, too much sugar, and on and on have become big media and legislative issues. We are paying a lot of attention to what is eaten
On the other hand, we don’t spend much time thinking about the water we drink. Make no mistake about it, we are way ahead of previous generations and past civilizations in the safety of our water. History is full of whole armies, societies and populations that have been decimated or even ended by drinking water contaminants and diseases. We are a far cry from that state of affairs, but not completely safe.
If you think about it, the amazing and at the same time disgusting fact is that the water in your spigot may contain water treated by an upstream sewage plant, and yet we drink it.
America has one of the safest water systems in the world. On the other hand, we have seen serious brain damage and other health problems can occur in places like Flint Michigan. The scary part is that the damage to many lead poisoned children is now a health and developmental problem that will live with them and those around them all of their lives.
The rest of the story in Flint Michigan is that even if the water quality is corrected, the pipes themselves are now chemically damaged and will continue to leech lead into the drinking and cooking water of the residents. Digging up and replacing the underground main service line pipes, hot water tanks and damaged pipes in homes has been estimated to have a cost of between 20 and 200 million dollars in that city of 100,000 residents. Many of those residents can simply not afford to do the needed work in their individual homes. Cost of replacing the damaged underground municipal system is claimed to be 1.5 billion dollars.
If the water of Flint was properly treated, the poisoning and permanent physical damage to the people drinking the water would have never occurred. The big question to ask as you stare at your own glass of water from your tap should be: Is my water safe?
The EPA requires that each municipal water treatment system provide an annual “Consumer Confidence Report” (abbreviated CCR) and make that report available to the consumers of the water. It only took minutes for me to look up the report for the local water authority that supplies our home. The good news is that the water was pretty good……in this case. The bad news is that I had never checked that information on the water we drink before today. All of us need to take a look at the report for our homes. Click for download of full PDF article http://goo.gl/BM9Skv
Click for download of full PDF article http://goo.gl/BM9Skv
Imagine: It is a happy time of celebration. It could be a wedding, graduation, church picnic, reunion or a house warming party. There is a single unwanted guest at this joyous event….and we are not talking about obnoxious Uncle Harry. It is a smaller and much more destructive guest. It is a mosquito carrying the Zika virus.
With one tiny mosquito bite during an otherwise joyful event, the life of a family and its unborn child are changed and challenged forever.
Talk about insidious and sneaky! Four out five persons that are bitten and infected by a mosquito carrying the Zika virus will not have a single symptom of the disease. If that victim is pregnant, the very first sign of the virus could be a child born with the lifelong birth defect of microcephaly. This defect results in a child being born with a small, under developed head and brain on a regular sized body.
Birth Defects are forever. We must do all that we can to stop the Zika virus and protect the health of our children.
This is not a bad science fiction movie. It is not hype. It is not a fictional media frenzy for ratings. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization, and countless other organizations this is a serious pandemic stretching across the world from Africa, to the Pacific Rim, then to South and Central America and now, to the United States.
WHO DOES THIS AFFECT?
“The Zika virus could reach regions of the United States in which 60 percent of the population lives, or some 200 million Americans.” According to The Lancet (a renowned international general medical journal) It can affect not just residents of the affected areas, but tourists and visitors to those areas.
Click here for additional details
WHAT CAN WE DO TO PROTECT THE ONES WE LOVE?
We must take every possible precaution to interrupt the process of mosquitoes infecting people with the Zika virus.
· Wear light covered, loose fitting clothing that covers as much skin as possible
Click here for May Clinic information on avoiding mosquito bites
· Apply insect repellant using safe products and methods
Click here to download a copy of WEBMD’s Safe Use of Pesticide Directions
· Remove any items that contain standing water from the area
(such as tires, water buckets, roof gutters, bird baths, etc.) Click here for more details
· Use screens in windows and air conditioning in sealed homes where possible
Click here for the CDC information on control of the Zika virus
· Conduct a barrier spray program.
Treating the grounds for a special event like a wedding or pool party may meet your needs. If you have a possible home exposure of a pregnant woman, a barrier spray program may better meet your safety needs. Based on the life cycle of mosquitos, a 14-day cycle may provide the best control and safety.
Click here for more information about barrier control programs