The Effects of Chlorine in Your Water

Chlorine has been added to drinking water by the Water treatment facilities since the late 1800's. By 1904, adding chlorine has become the standard practice in water treatment. A hundred years later chlorine is still the most widely used chemical to purify water.

Why we use chlorine is not because it's the safest or even the most effective means of disinfectant, we use it because it is the cheapest. We have achieved great technological advances but we still pour bleach in our water before we drink it. The long-term effects of using chlorinated drinking water have being recognized only recently. According to the U.S. Council of Environmental Quality, "Cancer risk among people drinking chlorinated water is 93% higher than among those who use non chlorinated water.

The highly controversial book titled "Coronaries/Cholesterol/Chlorine” by Dr. Joseph Price, written in the late sixties concluded that nothing could negate the incontrovertible fact, the basic cause of arteriosclerosis and resulting entities such as heart attacks and stroke, is chlorine. Dr. Price later headed up a study using chickens as test subjects, where two groups of several hundred birds were observed throughout their span to maturity.

One group was given water with chlorine and the other without. The group given chlorine water, when autopsied, showed some level of heart or circulatory disease in every specimen, the group without had no occurrence of disease. In winter conditions the group with chlorine showed outward signs of poor circulation, shivering, drooped feathers and a reduced level of activity.

The group without chlorine enjoyed rapid growth and displayed vigorous health. This study received well by the poultry industry then, continues to be used as a reference even today. As a result, most large poultry producers use de-chlorinated water. It would be a common sense conclusion to think for that regular chlorinated tap water if not good enough for the chickens, then it probably is not good enough human consumption either.

What are Trihalomethanes?

There is a lot of well-founded apprehension about chlorine. When chlorine is mixed with water, it binds with other natural compounds to form Trihalomethanes (THM) which is a by-product of chlorination.

These chlorine by-products activate the production of free radicals in the body, causing cell damage, and are highly carcinogenic. "Although concentrations of these carcinogens (THMs) are low, it is exactly these low levels, cancer scientists believe are responsible for the majority of human cancers in the United States." The Environmental Defence Fund Simply stated chlorine is a pesticide, whose singular purpose is to kill living organisms. When we consume chlorine-contaminated water, it kills some part of us, destroying cells and tissue inside our body.

The highly regarded University of Minnesota researcher Dr. Robert Carlson, who works for the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, sums it up by claiming, "the chlorine problem is similar to that of air pollution", and adds that "chlorine is the greatest crippler and killer of modern times!"

Chlorine penetration

The rise in patients with Breast Cancer among women in North America has recently been linked to the accumulation of chlorine compounds in the breast tissue. A study carried out in Hartford Connecticut, found that; "women with breast cancer have 50% to 60% higher levels of organochlorines in their breast tissue than those without breast cancer."

One of the most shocking revelations common to all of these studies is that up to 2/3s of our harmful exposure to chlorine is due to inhalation of steam and skin absorption while showering. A warm shower opens up the pores of the skin and allows rapid penetration of chlorine and other chemicals in water.

The vapour we breathe in when taking a shower can have up to 50 % more chemical levels than tap water because chlorine and most other chemicals vaporize much sooner at a lower temperature than water. Breathing is a much more damaging means of exposure since the chlorine gas i.e. chloroform, goes directly into our blood stream. When we drink contaminated water our kidneys and digestive system filter out the toxins to some extent.

Chlorine vapour is identified as a strong irritant to the sensitive tissue and bronchial passages inside our lungs; chlorine was used as a chemical weapon in World War II. Chlorine inhalation is suspected to cause asthma and bronchitis, especially in children. The population of children having asthma and bronchitis has increased 300% in the last two decades. According to Dr Lance Wallace from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "Showering with Chlorine contaminated water is suspected as the main cause of heightened levels of chloroform in nearly every home”.

Chlorine in shower water also has a very negative cosmetic effect, robbing the skin and hair of moisture and elasticity, resulting in a less vibrant and youthful appearance. Anybody who has ever swum in a chlorinated pool can relate to the harsh effects that chlorine has on the skin and hair. What's startling is that we commonly find higher levels of chlorine in our tap water than is recommended safe for swimming pools.

Beside all the health risks associated to chlorine in our water, it is the primary cause of bad taste and odor in drinking water. The unpleasant taste causes many people to turn to other less healthful beverages like soft drinks, tea or other sweetened drinks. A decreased intake of water, for any reason, can only result in a lower degree of health.

Getting rid of Chlorine from your drinking water

The good news is that chlorine can easily be removed from water. This justifies why Chlorine is still being used to keeping our water free from harmful bacteria and water borne diseases right up to the time of consumption. Chlorine inarguably serves an important purpose; the hazards of not using chlorine are greater than or equal to the related health risks. The simple truth is that chlorine is likely here to stay.

Any thought about doing away with chlorine in the near future is just not realistic. It is also evidently clear that chlorine poses a very real and serious threat to our health and should be removed in our homes where ever possible, both from the water we drink and the water we shower in.