This article was shared from the WQA (Water Quality Assoc)
Chlorines health effects have been debated for decades. However, most experts now agree that there are some significant health risks related to chlorinated water as well as the chlorinated by-products.
In the 1970’s it was discovered that when it is added to water, Trihalomethanes (chlorinated by-products) form by combining with certain naturally occurring organic matter such as vegetation and algae. These by-products trigger the production of free radicals in the body‚ causing cell damage‚ and are highly carcinogenic.
THMs are also suspected to contribute rectal, bladder and pancreatic cancers, and may cause damage to the nervous system, and hardening of the arteries‚ the primary cause of heart disease.
Chloroform, a chlorination byproduct, causes cells to mutate and once was used as an anesthetic but was banned by the FDA in 1976 when it was discovered to cause cancer.
The National Cancer Institute estimates cancer risks for people who consume chlorinated water to be up to 93% higher than for people who do not.
Chlorinated Water in Showers is a Deadly Toxin
According to the U.S. Council of Environmental Quality‚ “Cancer risk among people using chlorinated water is as much as 93% higher than among those whose water does not contain chlorine.”
In fact, the chlorinated water in showers is a deadly toxin to our bodies. You can absorb more chlorine in a 10 minute shower than by drinking 8 glasses of water. This happens because your skin, the largest organ of your body, acts like a sponge when the hot shower opens up the pores in your skin.
You also create a gas when you are taking a hot shower. When chlorine vaporizes in steam and combines with other organic compounds in the air, it converts to chloroform. Chloroform is known to be a strong respiratory irritant and causes fatigue.
You are putting yourself in the middle of poisonous confined space and inhaling the vapors directly into your lungs and blood stream. You end up absorbing it at a rate of up to 20 times the concentration of chlorine and other synthetic chemicals as tap water.
This is due to the fact that these chemicals vaporize at a much lower temperature and at a much faster rate than water. While over 98% of the water coming from the showerhead goes down the drain, 70% to 90% of the chemicals in the water vaporize before the water hits the shower floor.
According to the American Journal of Public Health, “Skin absorption of contaminants has been underestimated and ingestion may not constitute the sole or even primary route of exposure.”
They link chlorine to “significant increases in certain types of cancer, asthma and skin irritations…”
and that “up to two-thirds of the harmful exposure was due to skin absorption and inhalation of chlorine in shower water”.
Dr. Lance Wallace of the ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY says this about chlorines health effects from showering…
“Showering is suspected as the primary cause of elevated levels of chloroform in nearly every home because of the chlorine in the water.”
The evidence is clear.
With the realization that more than double the levels of chlorine and other synthetic chemicals (SOCs/VOCs) enter our body through skin absorption and inhalation of steam while showering than from drinking water, the need and benefits of shower filtration have become very obvious.
We must take steps to guard ourselves and families from Chlorines Health Effects from the chlorine found in our water systems. Not only should we be concerned about the water that we are drinking but also the water that we are bathing or showering in.
Stopping the chlorination of drinking water to eliminate the elevated cancer risks from the chlorination by-products just will not happen. Chlorination is particularly effective in preventing recontamination in the distribution system and alternatives must provide a similar level of protection. The most practical solution to the problem is to take it back out at the “point of use” (POU) for your own home or office. The most practical and efficient method for removing chlorine and by-products, taste and odor problems, is to filter it with granular activated carbon (GAC)or other suitable chemical-removing filter media, such as KDF to reduce Chlorines Health Effects on our families.