The Effects of Chlorine in Your Water:
Chlorine, Cancer and Heart Disease
Water treatment facilities have added chlorine to drinking water since the
late 1800’s. Most of us think that I was an addition of technological age-
maybe 50 year tops. By 1904, adding chlorine was standard in water
treatments. For the most part, that has not changed, a hundred years later.
We do not use chlorine because it is the safest or even most effective means
of disinfection; we use it because it is the cheapest. In spite of all our
technological advances, we essentially still pour bleach in our water before
we drink it. The long term effects of chlorinated drinking water have just
recently being recognized. According to the U.S. Council of Environmental
Quality, “Cancer risk among people drinking chlorinated water is 93%
higher than among those whose water does not contain chlorine.”
Dr. Joseph Price wrote a highly controversial book in the late sixties title
“Coronaries/Cholesterol/Chlorine” and concluded that nothing can negate
the incontrovertible fact, the basic cause of atherosclerosis 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
raised with chlorine, when autopsied, showed some level of heart or
circulatory disease in every specimen, the group without had no incidence
of disease. The group with chlorine under winter conditions, showed
outward signs of poor circulation, shivering, drooped feathers, and reduced
level of activity.
The group without chlorine grew faster, larger and displayed vigorous
health. This study was well received in the poultry industry and is still used
as a reference today. As a result, larger poultry producers use de-
chlorinated water. It would be a common sense conclusion that if regular
chlorinated tap water is not good enough for the chickens, then it probably
is not good enough for us humans!
What the heck are Trihalmethanes? There is a lot of well-founded concern
about chlorine. When chlorine is added to our water, it combines with other
natural compounds to form Trihalpmethanes (chlorination byproducts), or
THM’s.
These chlorine byproducts trigger 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 precisely these
low levels that cancer scientist believe are responsible for the majority of
human cancers in the U.S.” The Environmental Defense Fund
Simply stated chlorine is a pesticide, as defined by the U.S. EPA, Chlorine’s
sole purpose is to kill living organisms. When we consume water-
containing chlorine, it kills some part of us, destroying cells and tissue
inside our body.
Dr. Robert Carlson, a highly respected University of Minnesota researcher
who’s work is sponsored by the Federal Environment Protection agency,
sums it up buy claiming, “the chlorine problem is similar to that of air
pollution”, and adds “chlorine is the greatest crippler and killer of modern
times!”
Breast cancer, which now affects one in every eight 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, the first of its kind in North America, found that “woman with
breast cancer have 50% to 60% higher levels of organo-chlorines (chlorine
byproducts) in their breast tissue than woman without breast cancer.
One of the most shocking components 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 for accelerated absorption of chlorine and other chemicals
in water. The steam we inhale while showering can contain up to 50 times
the level of chemicals than tap water because chlorine and most other
contaminants vaporize much more harmful means of exposure since the
chlorine gas (chloroform) we inhale goes directly into our blood stream.
When we drink contaminated water, the toxins are partially filtered out by
our kidneys and digestive system.
Chlorine vapors are known to be a strong irritant to the sensitive tissue and
bronchial passages inside our lungs, it was used as a chemical weapon in
World War II. The inhalation of chlorine is a suspected cause of asthma and
bronchitis, especially in kids. This has increased 300% in the last two
decades. “Showering is suspected as the primary cause of elevated levels
of chloroform in nearly every home because of chlorine in the water.” Dr.
Lance Wallace, U.S. EPA.
Chlorine in shower water also has a very negative effect, robbing our skin
and hair of moisture and elasticity, resulting in a less vibrant and youthful
appearance. Anyone who has ever swum in a chlorinated pool can relate
the harsh effects that chlorine has on the skin and hair. What is surprising
is that we commonly find higher levels of chlorine in our tap water than is
recommended safe for pools.
Aside from all the health risks related to chlorine in our water, it is the
primary cause of bad taste and odor in drinking water. The objectionable
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.
The good news is that chlorine is one of the easiest substances to remove
from our water. For that reason it logically should serve it’s purpose of
keeping our water free from harmful bacteria and water borne diseases
right up to the time of consumption, where it should then be removed by
quality home water filtration.
No one will argue that chlorine serves an important purpose and that the
hazards of doing away with chlorine are greater than or equal to the related
health risks, The simple truth is that chlorine is likely here to stay.
The idea that we could do away with chlorine any time in the future is just
not realistic. It is also clear that chlorine represents a very real and serious
threat to our health and should be removed on our homes, at the point of
use, both from the water we drink and the water we shower in.
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