Everyday Wellness: Midlife Hormones, Menopause, and Science for Women 35+ Ep. 197 Water Pollution: Everything You Need to Know About Environmental Toxins in Our Water
I am delighted to have Lara Adler with me again today! Lara is a self-proclaimed environmental toxins nerd. She was on the show last year, in episode 159, where we spoke about the link between chemical exposure, weight gain, and other hormonal imbalances. I asked her to join me again today, to highlight the impact of the quality of our water on our health.
Lara Adler is an Environmental Toxins Expert & Educator and a Certified Holistic Health Coach who teaches health coaches, nutritionists, and other health professionals how to eliminate the number one thing holding their clients back from the results they are seeking – the unaddressed link between chemicals and chronic health problems. She trains practitioners to become experts in everyday toxic exposures so they can improve client outcomes without spending hundreds of hours researching on their own.
There have recently been so many questions about water! In this episode, Lara and I take a deep dive into the scope of the water issue. We discuss the problems around regulation, water contamination, and the crumbling water infrastructure in the United States. We discuss how differences in geography affect our exposure to certain types of industrial toxins and pesticides and talk about how our water gets disinfected with chlorine, chloramine, and fluoride. We get into the impact of biological contaminants, the role of industry and government, the effects of climate change and pollution, why we need to understand the water quality reports for our homes, and how micro-plastics can impair our health and longevity. We also talk about bottled water, water filters, and Lara’s favorite environmental health books, bottles, and reverse osmosis.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN
- The concerns expressed in the book Silent Spring started changing the tide around environmental pollutants.
- The United States still has very poor regulations around the number of industrial chemicals present in the water system.
- There might be traces of antibiotics, antidepressants, and other drugs in our drinking water.
- Lara explains why she purposefully does not promote any specific water filtration systems.
- Problems that exist in the American water infrastructure.
- Even though utilities in the United States are legally required to produce water quality reports (or consumer confidence reports) every year, they do not always do that.
- Why is it vital for you to obtain your water quality report, regardless of where you live?
- Lara explains the difference between groundwater and surface water.
- The pros and cons of disinfecting water.
- Why should you avoid drinking untreated spring water?
- The government and industry in America have not been good stewards of the country’s water supply.
- Lara talks about the intentional campaign run by the American government and industry to push the environmental responsibility onto the consumer.
- Why is chlorine added to our water supply? What does it do, and how does it impact our health?
- Lara shares her thoughts on fluoride.
- What are micro-plastics, and how do they impact our health?
- Some advice for re-mineralizing water purified by reverse osmosis.
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Resources:
Books mentioned:
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
The Fluoride Deception by Christopher Bryson
Slow Death By Rubber Duck by Bruce Lourie and Rick Smith
Documentary mentioned: