I wasn’t sure I really wanted to read “Murderland”, a newly published book about the many serial killers from the Pacific Northwest. Throughout the 20th century, places like Tacoma and Seattle sounded seriously spooky. Writers dubbed them “Poisonvilles”, smelters crossed skylines belching toxic lead, arsenic, cadmium unchecked into the air, water, and soil of the Pacific Northwest. There was no protection for the locals or their children. The well-paid managers of the factories lived as far from the smelters as possible and had been instructed by the East Coast owners (Rockefellers, mainly, Guggenheims, too), “Deny everything!”, “Put the doctors on the payroll.”
Violent crime and murder rates were unusually high: names like the Green River Killer (71 murders, from Tacoma); I-5 Killer (44 murders, from Salem, Oregon); Happy Face Killer (163, from British Columbia).
Then came World War Two and America needed lead for everything: bullets, tanks, planes, armor. The Pacific Northwest supplied the lead and into this toxic bouillabaisse, Ted Bundy, along with a chilling list of other serial killers, is born. And sadly, so are babies who will develop learning disabilities, and a variety of inexplicable chronic illnesses.
The Environmental Protection Agency, whose creation was blocked endlessly by “special interests”, doesn’t get created until 1970 and signed into law by Republican Richard Nixon. Bundy is finally executed in 1989, having confessed to 39 murders although the actual number is considered twice that.
On March 25, 2025, President Trump fulfilled many of his “Day One promises” authorizing the reversal of most of the environmental protections that had been developed over the EPA’s 55 year history. If you start noticing a chemical taste in your water, thank DJT.
I really try not to think of myself as a conspiracy theorist, really, I do.
But let’s take Chicago and surrounding suburbs as examples. Of course, there’s New York, Cleveland, Flint, MI. But let’s talk about Chicago. Remember, the President “hates” cities, especially us. What better way to manifest that hate than increasing our crime rate by blocking funding for lead pipe removal. Then, blame the crime in illegals and send in ICE.
We have the most lead pipes (387,000). Yes, we are slowly, steadily replacing them. Yes, our world famous “murder rate” and overall crime rate have been steadily on the decline over the past twenty years. Things were actually much worse, violent crime-wise in the 1990’s than now. Well, I won’t be so naive as to say this drop is all because we’re getting our act together and getting the lead out of Chicago. But a very interesting article from Mother Jones thinks this might be a strong factor.
Okay, so what steps should you take so that your toddler doesn’t become a serial killer two decades from now?
Because Chicago has the most lead service lines of any major city and Illinois has the most miles of lead pipes in the U.S., testing your home’s water for lead is actually easy! You can go to this website or call 311 and find out if your Chicago home is serviced by a lead pipe AND if so, you can request a (FREE) water testing kit. If you have lead, you can receive a (FREE) water filter and request your service line changed.
For those skeptical of government “anything”, I did all this a couple of years ago. We did have lead, got a filter, and about six months later had our service pipes changed.
What is interesting is how many times I have heard that when lead is found, especially in adults, physicians are unsure what to do next. The answer is a treatment called ‘chelation therapy’ but trying to find a medical practice that is familiar with chelation can be a challenge. Lurie Children’s and Rush Children’s are familiar with the treatment for kids but across the street, at Northwestern, for adults, they’re not.
CHELATION THERAPY
“Chelation” is pronounced “key-lay-shun” and derived from the Greek word chele which means to claw. Like a ‘claw’, literally gathering toxic metals, intravenous EDTA (Ethylene Diamine Tetra Acetic acid) travels throughout your body and over a typical three-hour treatment session removes lead, arsenic, and aluminum and then, you pee them all out into your toilet. It usually takes 5-10 intravenous EDTA treatments to get all the lead out of you but since EDTA removes ‘good’ minerals as well, you’ll need to take oral mineral supplements as well.
TO END ON A POSITIVE NOTE: A WORD ABOUT LITHIUM
Enough of Bundy, lead poisoning, etc.
Lithium, one of the elements from the Periodic Table of Elements, has been used for “health purposes” and is now being shown to slow the progression of early Alzheimer’s and even have some ‘anti-aging’ properties. Next week I’ll discuss its history and how to test your own levels. Really you don’t need much (probably 5 mg or so) when compared to a Tesla (140 lbs).
If you want to schedule any of the testing described or learn more about it, make an appointment with your WholeHealth Chicago practitioner.
Remember, have the city test your water.
Be well,
David Edelberg, MD