Trace Elements, Inc. (TEI) gave a plain household rule in its 1980s newsletters: run the tap before drinking. The rule addresses water that has stood in the pipes, and Analytical Research Labs (ARL) lists “water remaining in copper pipes” among its copper sources. My own drinking water comes from a gravity-feed purifier with Culligan filters, which the maker states remove PFAS chemicals, medications and VOCs. Water is one of the inputs I take most seriously, and I avoid plastic water bottles.
Copper from standing water
ARL documents the copper route in detail. Copper plumbing was installed widely from the 1940s, and the majority of homes in the United States have it. In areas with acidic water, copper leaches from the pipes. Water coolers and refrigerator ice-makers also use copper tubing, and ARL states that water sitting in these units “can contain dangerously high levels of copper.” Some municipal supplies also add copper sulfate to kill yeast and fungi. TEI adds a visual sign: blue-green staining in a sink is a tell for copper corrosion.
Dr. Paul Eck’s own list of causes of mineral imbalance names water third, after emotional stress and medications: too much copper, lead or cadmium, with the instruction “make sure your pipes are not copper pipes.”
How copper shows on a hair chart
Both labs put the ideal hair copper at 2.5 mg% and the ideal zinc/copper (Zn/Cu) ratio at 8 to 1; TEI’s acceptable Zn/Cu band runs from 4 to 12. ARL reads a Zn/Cu of 4 to 8 as a copper toxicity trend and 2 to 4 as severe. Copper is harder to read than most minerals, because ARL states that copper often accumulates in the liver and brain instead of the hair, and that a hair copper below 1.0 mg% often indicates hidden copper. Copper raises the sodium reading and lowers potassium, and a calcium above 80 mg% or a potassium below 3 to 4 mg% are among ARL’s hidden-copper indicators. Copper also reduces potassium and decreases thyroid activity, by ARL’s account.
What else the labs find in tap water
- Chlorine and fluoride: ARL states that added chlorine and fluoride in drinking water suppress thyroid function, and recommends a water purifier. Fluoride also replaces calcium in bone, per TEI’s calcium material.
- Aluminum: frequently added by municipalities, and fluoridated water increases the leaching of aluminum from aluminum pots and pans.
- Cadmium: tap and drinking water are on ARL’s cadmium source list, alongside cigarette smoke and refined foods. Cadmium displaces zinc in over 70 enzyme systems.
- Drug residues: ARL’s retest document names chlorine, fluoride and drug residues in tap water as part of its argument for staying on a nutrition program long term.
For aluminum, Dr. Paul Eck’s toxic-metals text lists distillation or an RO membrane system as the most effective water treatment, with deionization as an alternative.
Lead in old plumbing
ARL’s lead source list includes lead plumbing and lead-soldered joints and cans, especially with acidic contents. Lead behaves like calcium in the body and is stored in bone when calcium is deficient. Adults absorb 1 to 10 percent of ingested lead, and children retain up to 50 percent. On a hair chart, TEI judges lead against calcium at a Ca/Pb of at least 84 to 1, with an upper lead limit of 0.5 mg%, so an artificially normal calcium can hide a lead trend. TEI’s 1980s newsletters also advise testing well water.
Hard water, softened water, and the mineral balance
Watts (TEI) classifies water by its mineral profile. Hard water is high in calcium and magnesium and usually alkaline, which he classes as sedative, aligned with the parasympathetic system. Softened water has low total solids, is generally acidic, and is dominant in sodium, which he classes as stimulatory, aligned with the sympathetic system. TEI’s 1986 newsletter gives hair-chart criteria for when hard water may help: a Ca/P below 3.0 and a Na/Mg above 5.0, together with a Ca/K below 4.0 or a Ca/Na below 1.5. The same issue sets acceptable toxic ratios for drinking water itself: Ca/Pb above 10,000 to 1, Fe/Pb above 20 to 1, Zn/Hg above 2,500 to 1, Fe/Hg above 250 to 1, and Zn/Cd above 300 to 1.
How copper shows up on a retest
A hair reading averages 2 to 3 months of growth, and I retest every 3 to 5 months. ARL reads a copper rise on a retest as copper coming out, under its general rule: “Higher toxic metals usually means one is actively eliminating metals, not a worsening of toxicity.” Hidden copper, sequestered in other organs, “will be revealed on the second, or third hair test” as it is mobilized from tissue storage sites.
Keep Exploring
This article is for educational purposes only.
