Our Environment Impacts Our Health

We often take the air we breathe and the water we drink for granted, yet our environment is the silent architect of our health. In Martin County, a combination of rapid development and systemic neglect has led to a rise in dangerous contaminants, including the emergence of "forever chemicals," that standard regulations fail to address. In this article, Dr. Roy Speiser examines the critical link between environmental toxicity and chronic illness, and why protecting our water supply is the most vital gift we can provide for our families.

Clean water and pure air are the necessities of life. Unfortunately, we live in an area fraught with environmental abuse, developmental greed, and governmental neglect that allows increased contamination of our air and water.

Environmental contamination is making us sick and shortening our lives. The increased development in Martin County adds more discharge of pollutants into our water and depletes our aquifers that are the source of our drinking water.

Toxins in water accumulate in our body long term and contribute to chronic illnesses. The insidious nature of this toxicity only makes matters worse. Unfortunately, healthcare practitioners fail to connect the dots between environmental toxicity and declining health

Chlorine and chloramine are chemicals added at the water treatment plant to prevent water-borne microbial diseases. Chemical byproducts- THMs and HAAs are formed when these chemicals react with organic matter and sediment in the water delivery pipes. THMs and HAAS are found in municipally supplied drinking water across the U.S. and are a significant cancer risk (Drinking Water Standards, 2021).

It is no secret that the EPA drinking water standards are not adequate in protecting our health. The low bar of the EPA drinking water standards is not free from health risks, and the cumulative exposure to contaminants only serves to escalate the problem.

The 2024 Martin County Water Quality Report lists Barium, Chloramine, THMs and HAAs and copper as detected contaminants.

New and more toxic chemical contaminants known as PFAS or “Forever Chemicals” have made their way into our water supply. PFAS chemicals were detected in the City of Stuart water and reduced by special treatment. However, the Water Quality Report for 2025 detected three (3) PFAS chemicals.

How do these pollutants make us sick? They damage DNA, impair the liver’s ability to eliminate toxins from the body, degrade immune function, and disrupt endocrine (hormone) communications. These biological effects pave the way for the development of cancer and many other serious health issues.

Clean, pure water is the essence of life and the birthright of all of us. There is no better gift we can give our family than to provide uncontaminated, clear, filtered water every time we turn on the tap.