Case Study: The Effects of Toxic Water

When most people think about water quality, they think about the water they drink.

They buy bottled water. Install a filter under the kitchen sink. Carry a stainless-steel water bottle everywhere they go.

And then they step into an unfiltered shower every morning, and brush their teeth with unfiltered water from the sink.

This is one of the most overlooked conversations in environmental wellness: we don't only interact with water by drinking it. We are exposed to it through our skin and lungs every time we shower, bathe, wash our hands, do dishes, or stand over a steaming sink.

And depending on what is present in that water, those exposures may matter more than we realize.

Our Skin Is Not an Impenetrable Barrier

The skin does an extraordinary job of protecting us from the outside world, but it isn't a sheet of plastic. Certain compounds can penetrate the skin, and some volatile chemicals in water can also enter the body through the lungs when water becomes aerosolized or evaporates.

This is particularly relevant with chlorinated municipal water.

Chlorine is used for a very good reason: disinfecting water helps protect us from potentially dangerous microorganisms. But disinfectants can react with naturally occurring organic material in water to produce compounds known as disinfection byproducts, including trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids. The EPA regulates these compounds because long-term excessive exposure can carry health risks.

And ingestion isn't the only route of exposure.

Research examining household water use has demonstrated exposure to THMs through inhalation and dermal absorption during showering and bathing. One study of 31 adults found that blood THM levels were actually highest following a 10-minute shower and lowest after drinking one liter of tap water.

Another controlled study examining 14 common household water activities found increases in blood or breath THM concentrations following every hot-water activity studied. Some of the largest increases occurred with showering, bathing and hand-washing dishes.

In other words, filtering what goes into your drinking glass may only address one piece of the water-exposure puzzle.

The Part That Fascinates Me as a Practitioner

In my practice, I am always interested in the question: What is at the root of this symptom?

Sometimes the answer is obvious. But often, it isn't.

I have repeatedly found through my testing methodology that something seemingly unrelated to a client's complaint appears as a potential stressor. One pattern that has caught my attention is household water exposure. These observations from individual clients illustrate why environmental exposures deserve consideration when looking at the whole picture.

Case #1: The Toddler Whose Behavior Suddenly Changed

One of the more memorable cases involved a toddler experiencing intense tantrums.

With young children and their shifting moods, there are dozens of possibilities to consider: sleep, food, developmental changes, overstimulation, changes in routine, illness and emotional stress, to name only a few.

But when I tested for potential stressors in this case, water toxicity repeatedly emerged as the primary concern.

The surprising part? It wasn't primarily the water the child was drinking.

The concern appeared to be exposure through everyday contact with water from the bathroom sink. That finding shifted the family's attention toward something that previously hadn't been on their radar at all: what was in the water touching their child's skin.

The case became an important reminder for me that when symptoms seem mysterious, our investigation sometimes needs to extend beyond what someone is eating and drinking to everything the body is regularly encountering. After the contaminated water and its effects were detoxed from the child’s body, his tantrums ceased and mood stabilized. The findings from testing also alerted his mother to install a filter on their bathroom sink, which has now helped to reduce tantrums on an ongoing basis.

Case #2: Two Healthy Adults With Unexpectedly Low Blood Sugar

Another intriguing pattern appeared in two otherwise healthy adults who were experiencing unusually low blood-sugar readings.

For most practitioners, nutrition would be the obvious place to begin investigating.Were they skipping meals? Undereating? Exercising excessively? Eating in a way that could produce glucose instability?

In these two cases, my testing repeatedly pointed somewhere unexpected: water exposure.

Water-related toxicity appeared as the primary stressor my methodology identified. Testing showed that as they absorbed the toxins from unfiltered sink water, their blood sugar metabolism became impaired as the liver ceased the release of stored sugar.

Chemical elements from one of their breakfast foods were also contributing to the low blood sugar, though not to the same extent as the water toxicity.

What these cases demonstrate is the value of looking beyond the obvious.

Sometimes the factor worth investigating isn't another supplement or dietary restriction.

Sometimes it's something you're exposed to every single day.

Case #3: The Ongoing Lower-Back Pain

Then there was the client struggling with lower-back pain.

When something hurts, our instinct is understandably mechanical: What muscle is tight? What did I lift? Is my posture wrong? Do I need stretching, massage or physical therapy?

In this particular case, my testing did not initially point toward the musculoskeletal system.

It pointed toward water toxicity as the primary stressor, driving inflammation that landed in his lumbar discs.

As with other cases, there were secondary causes including nutritional imbalances and some other toxicities. But this case, like the others, reinforced a principle I return to constantly in holistic work:

The location of a symptom isn't necessarily the location of its underlying driver.

The body operates as an interconnected system. Environmental exposures, nutrition, sleep, stress, movement and countless other inputs contribute to the overall physiological burden the body has to manage.

Reducing the Exposure Burden

If you're concerned about your home's water, begin with data rather than fear.

Look at your local utility's annual water-quality report and consider independent testing of your home's water when warranted. Remember that municipal reports describe the water system broadly; conditions at an individual home can differ because of plumbing and other factors.

If testing identifies something you want to reduce, filtration can then be selected specifically for that contaminant. Different filtration technologies remove different substances, so "filtered" does not automatically mean "everything has been removed."

For volatile compounds released during showering, ventilation can matter as well. Research suggests that shower duration, air exchange and ventilation can influence inhalation exposure to THMs.

And consider the entire home—not simply the kitchen faucet.

If you're filtering your drinking water while bathing, showering and washing in the same unfiltered water every day, there may be another piece of your environmental-health puzzle worth investigating.

Sometimes the Most Powerful Question Is the One Nobody Is Asking

We tend to search for complicated answers to complicated health problems.

Another supplement. Another diet. Another protocol. Another practitioner.

Sometimes those things are necessary.

But sometimes healing begins by looking closely at the ordinary things we interact with every single day: our food, our air, our products, our homes—and our water.

The toddler with the tantrums wasn't drinking gallons of questionable water. The two healthy adults weren't obvious candidates for blood-sugar problems. The client with back pain wasn't looking at the shower as a possible environmental variable.

Yet in each case, water exposure surfaced through my testing methodology as the primary stressor worth addressing.

We nourish ourselves—or burden ourselves—through what we eat, breathe, absorb, and repeatedly encounter.

And perhaps one of the most overlooked exposures of all is the one pouring over our skin every single day.