Test kits: Volatile Organic Chemicals(VOC's) Test Kits

Volatile Organic Chemicals
Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOC's) are contaminants that may be found in drinking water supplies across the nation. By definition, VOC's are those organic chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, buried waste and other chemicals) that are readily vaporizable at a relatively low temperature. VOC's can get into water supplies in various ways. Since many VOC's are herbicides and pesticides, agricultural run-off can carry these chemicals to water supplies. Some VOC's are products of industrialization and may get into water supplies through various means, such as leakage of storage tanks, accidental spills, or illegal dumping of toxic waste.

VOC's vapor intrusions is a hot issue in the field of environmental science and regulatory policy. Vapor intrusion is the migration of volatile chemicals from buried waste and/or contaminated groundwater through sub-surface solids into ovelying buildings. These vapors may then accumulate, reducing the indoor air quality and posing health risks to building occupants. Ingestion of VOC's-containing air and water may cause cancer, birth defects and Blue Baby Syndrome. Pesticide ingestion and inhalation can damage internal organs, cause cancer, and eventually death. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one-half of the ground and well water in the U.S. is contaminated with pesticides, resulting in at least 27,000 deaths each year. According to WHO, over half of those deaths occur in highly populated areas, such as New Jersey, New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Houston and Miami.

Test periodically your water quality!

Pro-Lab's instant, do-it-yourself VOC's test kits monitor water for hazardous levels of pesticides. These pesticides in water testing kits utilize patented laboratory grade test strips for accuracy and reliability, and are mostly used in rural areas and cities with water quality or water shortage problems. Pro-Lab's VOC's Test Kit offers 5 instant tests for water over-chlorination, nitrites/nitrates, hardness and alkalinity, and iron (stains fixtures, laundry and hair). It contains 5 individual laboratory grade test strips for accuracy and reliability.

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Health risks involved with VOC's
VOC's can cause cancer; kidney liver, and brain damage; and damage to the nervous, reproductive, and immune systems. Some VOC's are "endocrine impostors" that mimic hormones triggering biological reactions that wreak havoc in the brain, and in the immune and reproductive systems (Water Systems News & Home Water Report). What is especially alarming is that, in many cases, it is not just one VOC at a time that is in tap water. According to the Environmental Working Group, consumers are routinely exposed to multiple VOC's in one glass of tap water. Infants and children are especially at risk because "they drink more water per pound of body weight than adults, and they're still growing, which makes them particularly vulnerable to health risks posed by exposure to these toxic substances," according to David Rall, Ph.D., director of PSR's (Physicians for Social Responsibility) Science and Environmental Health Policy Project.

How To Reduce VOC's In Tap Water
According to the Environmental Working Group, the only reliable technologies that can effectively remove VOC's from tap water are Activated Carbon and CPS filters. Public utilities, in most cases, are using only conventional water treatment (chlorination and sand filtration) which does nothing to reduce VOC levels in consumers' tap water (besides the fact that chlorination may introduce other VOC's [disinfection by-products like trihalomethanes] into the drinking water delivered to consumers). Other types of water treatment can not as effectively reduce the VOC's in tap water. Only those systems certified by NSF International for VOC reduction are recommended. The company's Drinking Water Systems are certified by NSF International under Standard 53 to reduce over forty different Volatile Organic Chemicals (including Trihalomethanes), as well as Asbestos, Lead, Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Chlorine, Particulate Matter (down to .5 microns), and Turbidity.

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