Originally published July 3 2005
Endocrine disruptors show need for constant vigilance over water supply
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Water treatment plants prevent disease-causing germs and known toxic chemicals from entering our water supply, but a new group of chemicals known as "endocrine disruptors" -- found in everything from plastics to pharmaceuticals -- are causing a problem, as modern treatment plants cannot detect them, let alone eliminate them.
To keep water safe and drinkable, U.S. communities maintain an extensive network of wastewater treatment plants aimed at removing disease-causing germs and known toxic chemicals before the water flows into rivers and streams.
While current purification standards prevent millions of illnesses every year, health experts say that it's important to remain vigilant about what's in our water, as demonstrated by the dangers from an increasingly common group of chemicals known as "endocrine disruptors."
Boulder Water Treatment Plant Boulder Water Treatment Plant At the Waste Water Treatment Plant in Boulder, Colorado, technician Dan Wadas leads nervous biology students toward what he says will be the smelliest part of their tour - the headworks.
"The first stop's the worst," he tells them.
The water flowing through the treatment plant will end up back in Boulder Creek Boulder Creek Boulder Creek, to be reused by hundreds of cities downstream.
Boulder works to clean it up because untreated sewage water can make people sick, if they drink it, bathe in it, or even water their gardens with it.
Alan Vajda a variety of household products: everything from plastics, which release the chemicals as they degrade, to pharmaceuticals in which endocrine disruptors are part of the medical formula.
His professor at the university, David Norris, points out that David Norris David Norris cancers aren't the only threats.
Just downstream from Boulder's wastewater treatment plant, scientists have discovered fish that carry both male and female reproductive organs -- an abnormality known as "intersex fish."
Intersex Gonad Cross-Section of Presence of Ova Within the Testicular Tissue of Intersex Fish Now that more researchers are looking for them, intersex fish are being discovered downstream from many U.S. treatment plants.
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