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By Richard Mesquita, AquaMD
(AquaMD is the water testing division of the American Water Council,
a nationally respected provider of water education and testing
services. AquaMD has teamed with Dr. Mercola to provide you both
the free home water evaluation and the Dr. Mercola water testing
packages at http://www.aquamd.com/mercola/labtests.cfm.)
Have you ever heard of the metal barium? If you haven't, you're
not alone. Barium just hasn't gotten the media coverage that lead,
arsenic and mercury have received in recent years. Nevertheless,
barium is just as dangerous to your health as those other metals
and shows up regularly in public water supplies.
Where Does Barium Come From?
Barium was first identified in 1774 by Carl Scheele and first extracted
by Sir Humphrey Davy of England in 1808. Since then, different forms
of barium have been widely used in the manufacture of countless
products:
- Paint
- Tile
- Glass
- Rubber
- Textiles
- Electronics
- Paper
- Soap
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- Linoleum
- Cosmetics
- Pharmaceuticals
- Spark plugs
- Vacuum tubes
- Fireworks
- Fluorescent lamps
- Rat poison
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Because barium is used often in so many manufacturing operations,
a lot of waste is produced that needs to be removed from the environment.
How much? In 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency reported
more than 222 million pounds of barium and barium compounds were
legally released into the air, wells, lakes, rivers and landfills.
Ten states account for about half of all legal barium released
in this country:
- Texas (17.1 million pounds)
- North Dakota (15.7 million pounds)
- Illinois (11 million pounds)
- Alabama (10.2 million pounds)
- Michigan (10.1 million pounds)
- Colorado (10.1 million pounds)
- Minnesota (8.8 million pounds)
- Ohio (8.2 million pounds)
- Montana (7.9 million pounds)
- Indiana (7.8 million pounds)
And 26 additional states released anywhere from 1 -- 7 million
pounds of barium apiece into the environment. Of course, none of
these statistics take into consideration the illegal, unreported
dumping of barium metals into the environment.
How Barium Poisons Our Water Supply
In light of the millions pounds of barium released into the environment
each year, it was only a matter of time until this toxic metal made
it into our public water supply. Even worse, some forms of barium
dissolve very easily in water, meaning, once it enters the water
supply, it can spread quickly over great distances.
In fact, this has already occurred. Public water supplies contaminated
with barium are everywhere. The magnitude of the problem grows worse
with each passing day.
Looking at lab tests conducted on public water supplies that crossed
my desk over a week's time, I found the vast majority showed some
level of barium contamination. Some of the lab tests I reviewed
were conducted on water from six states: Virginia, New York, California,
Texas, Massachusetts and Oregon.
Again, these were only lab results that crossed my desk in one
week. But that also illustrates how widespread the problem really
is.
How Barium Affects Your Health
Exposure to small amounts of barium, dissolved in water, may cause
a person to experience these problems:
- Breathing difficulties
- Increased blood pressure
- Heart rhythm changes
- Stomach irritation
- Muscle weakness
- Alterations in nerve reflexes
- Damage to your brain, liver, kidney and heart
To date, barium has not been shown to cause cancer and has not
been linked to infertility or birth defects. Not yet, anyway...
I urge you to find out if barium and other harmful contaminants
are in your water supply. If they are, for the sake of you and your
family's health, you may want to consider a water purification system
that treats those specific problems. Please be aware, however, no
single system treats every problem.
Then, see your health practitioner about removing the contaminants
that may have accumulated in your body.
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