Water
Filtration - Contaminants in Water
Heavy Metals
What
metals are included in the label "poisonous metals"?
There are 35 metals that concern us because of occupational or residential
exposure; 23
of these are the heavy elements or "heavy metals": antimony, arsenic, bismuth, cadmium, cerium, chromium, cobalt, copper, gallium,
gold, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, platinum, silver, tellurium,
thallium, tin, uranium, vanadium, and zinc (Glanze 1996). Interestingly, small
amounts of these elements are common in our environment and diet and are actually necessary for good health, but large amounts of any of them may cause acute or chronic toxicity (poisoning).
Heavy metals become toxic when they are not metabolized by the body and accumulate
in the soft tissues.
How
do they enter the body?
Heavy metals may enter the human body through food, water, air, or absorption
through the skin when they come in contact with humans in agriculture and in
manufacturing, pharmaceutical, industrial, or residential settings. Industrial
exposure accounts for a common route of exposure for adults. Ingestion is the most common route of exposure in children .
*
Note * It seems like most of the poisons come into the body by other
methods than by drinking water but that can vary greatly from region
to region. The Regency II unit filter is listed as removing heavy metals.
for detailed information see
this web site http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-156.shtml#comm |