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The quality of rivers and streams water in this country is declining fast. According to the US Statistical Abstract, there is "violation" when there are less than 5 mg of oxygen per liter of water. Well, last time there was 5 mg was in 1980. In 1995 (last year a figure was available) there was only 1 mg of oxygen.
A sad story. Oxygen is very good for the life of fish and humans. Bad bacteria on the other hand can't stand oxygen. Oxygen is a good sanitizing tool.
This is the insight which helped David Pittman develop the O2WaterClean technology. Up to now people had to chose beetween bacteria and poison -- AKA desinfectant. With O2WaterClean we do not have to chose between two evils: we can insist on getting rid of bacteria without harmful desinfectants.
The Dental Water Problem
To find a solution to contaminated water is especially urgent for the specific problem of water utilized at dentists' offices. The little lines that bring water to the patient mouths have the problems of city water and in addition, what is called "back flow", saliva - and bacteria - from the patients' mouths coming up into the tubes.
Robert A. Silver, DDS writes in the "Journal of the American Dental Association", Volume 124, October 1993 that "you will probably be shocked to learn that by the time the water exits the dental unit water lines - high speed handpieces, air-water syringes and ultrasonic tooth scalers - it is almost always grossly contaminated, dangerous and potentially deadly. This water is being sprayed into the mouths of patients during routine dental treatment. It also forms an aerosol and can therefore contaminate equipment, surfaces, clothing, skin and even the air that patients and staff members breathe.(since then OSHA had mandated the use of a mask for dental hygienists - but what of patients?)
In a ABC 20/20 show of Feb 18, 2000, the investigative reporters indicated that they tested dental water at a dentist's and that the contamination was worse than in a public toilet. When more than 500 cfus in water is not considered as drinkable according to US Army (and the military is not pampered) and EPA standards, many dentists' offices had baterial counts of several thousands cfus.
Bacteria and diseases
An article in JADA (Journal of the American Dental Association) indicates that dental personnel in a study shown a significant higher level of Legionella antibodies.
The article continues: "Although the amount of microorganisms in biofilm originate from the public water supply and, in general, do not pose a risk of desease for healthy patients, people with weakened immune systems may be prone to infection and illness from these same organisms."
This means that children, the elderly, the people with AIDS are very much at risk but so are the majority of people when they have an occasional cold or flu or similar ailment, or simply stress.
But, remember, the bacteria do not come only from city water problems but also from other patients' mouths.
The "Washington Post" reports links between Gum disease and Heart Disease. Some people with severe gum disease also have heart disease. It has not yet been established that the bacteria in gum disease are creating heart disease but scientists are waiting for the chance of designing a study which could prove it. In the meantime, because of the "back flow," we can all inherit other patients' gum diseases and possibly be put at risk for heart disease too, the number one killer.
Present Solutions don't work
The attitude that most people have is that filters take care of all these problems but they really don't. Whether they are installed on public systems or in home filtration systems, filters are often more part of the problems than they are part of the solution: An article in "Water Technology" (Feb. 1999) states that " a typical carbon filter that sits overnight contains between 1,000 and 10,000 cfs."
What if it sits night after night?
The same article states that some of the bacteria found at fountains that comes out of equipment with Granular Activated Charcoal (GAC) cause gastrointestinal illness, pneumonia, meningitis, septicemia, diarrhea and upper respiratory infections.
Other people think that desinfectants take care of these problems. Those people do not know that chlorine reacts with dead bacteria to form trihalomethanes which are carcinogenic. But chlorine does not seem to desinfect enough. City water systems are shifting to chloramines, which are formed by mixing chlorine and ammonia. Chloramines are destroying seals and gaskets in pipes according to an April 2000 article in "Water Conditioning and Purification" which will lead to further contamination of the water in these pipes. An article from the "Washington Post" also warns that chloramines may well harm "kidney dialysis patients and fish".
They are a more powerful poison than chlorine is. We are witnessing an "escalation" of the poison war on bacteria but human beings are caught in the cross-fire.
"Water Technology" March 2000 issue, tells about a recent international symposium help in Milwaukee on waterborn pathogens. "The venue for the symposium was the city where, in 1993 400,000 people were infected by Cryptosporidium oocysts that were present in the tap water. Many of those infected suffered symptoms such as cholera-like diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and weight loss. More than 50 people died as a result of the outbreak. More chlorination does not inactivate the oocysts."
What does the ADA say?
The official position of the ADA (American Dental Association) to the water lines problem is meant to be reassuring: "The ADA is aware of the importance of maintaining the quality of dental unit water as well as the quality of the public water system. The Association has already taken major steps in this direction by issuing a position paper setting a goal for dental unity water to a be a higher microbiological standard than drinking water. The ADA will continue to work with dental manufacturers and the scientific community to assure it achieves this goal."
That was written in 1996. That did not seem to have prevented the dismaying results found in the ABC 20/20 story which came out in Feb. 2000 !!
New Legislation coming up.
Other people thus have started reacting.
Once again from California comes to us one of the organized fight against pollution: this time polluted dental and drinking water. According to an April 2000 "Water Technology" article, assemblyman John Longville has introduced a bill intended to protect consumers from bacterial contamination in dental office waterlines and which could have consequences for manufacturers and sellers of water coolers, point-of-use (POU) filtration systems and a wide-range of other water-dispensing products.
"During the past 30 years more than an hundred scientific research papers have been published that document the high levels of bacteria and potentially life-threatening pathogens residing in dental water lines" says Margaret Johnson, a dentist with the Coalition for Safe Dental Water. "Assemblyman Longville's efforts could serve as a template for legislators everywhere."
Why wait?