Trouble on tap: murky waters lurk at home

摘要

Water is well-known as a keystone to better health. After all, how many times have you heard the proverbial "drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day?" Yet, increasingly, the quality and purity of ordinary drinking water is becoming cause for concern. For decades, scientists have known of the dangers of contamination from lead water pipes, which were finally banned by the federal government in 1986. There's also the possibility of groundwater contamination from petroleum, pesticides and other environmental toxins--especially in rural communities where the majority of drinking water is supplied from wells. Bacteria, on the other hand, are seldom a worry in Ameriea's municipal drinking water. Municipal water also tends to be "cleaner," since it'srun through purification systems and monitored by government agencies. Yet many experts caution against consuming too much tap water. Why? Because there's a growing body of evidenee that some of the very, ehemieals added to water to guard your health-especially chlorine and fluoride-may be doing more harm than good.