Chlorine - Prevention at a cost

For almost 100 years, chlorine has been added to disinfect our municipal water supply to prevent the mass outbreak of waterborne disease. The level of chlorine in your area depends on the quality of your water supply, but even if there’s no noticeable taste or smell, chlorine is still present. More importantly, also present are disinfection by-products (DPB's) of chlorination, which include some of the most potent carcinogens known to man.

Research jointly conducted almost 20-years ago in the United States at Harvard University and the Medical College of Wisconsin indicated that drinking chlorinated water may be linked with an increased incidence of bladder and rectal cancers where present.

Chlorine - A Cancer Causing Agent

Another study, among several hundred, by the Ontario Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation and University of Toronto found the following;

Long-term consumption of chlorinated water increases the risk of bladder and colon cancer. Between 10-13% of all bladder and colon cancers may be due to chlorinated water.
There is a 60% increase in the risk of bladder cancer for people exposed to high levels of chlorinated by-products for more than 35 years compared to people with little or no exposure. The figure is slightly lower for colon cancer.

There’s also evidence indicating that chlorine damages proteins.

This powerful disinfectant (essentially a bleach) dries out skin, damages hair and can cause a burning sensation in the eyes. If you suffer from any of the following, chlorinated water can make your condition worse:

asthma	sinus conditions
allergies	skin rashes
emphysema	psoriasis /eczema

Sometimes, simply eliminating chlorine from your drinking and bathing water can have a significant impact on these conditions.

More hazards of chlorinated water

Chlorine reacts with the organic matter already present in water (humus, the organic material formed from plant decay), toxic by-products can form. Chloroform, for example, causes cells to mutate and cholesterol to oxidise. Once used as an anaesthetic, chloroform was banned in the US in 1976 when it was discovered to cause cancer.

Tri-Halomethanes - Chlorines Deadly Cousin

Tri-halomethanes are by-products formed when Chlorine comes into contact with organic matter. The problem with Tri-Halomethanes is that they are far more carcinogenic than chlorine. In fact, scientists believe they are responsible for more cancers due to their massively increased carcinogenic potential.

Conclusion of 10-years of intensive study:

"There is a clear pattern between consumption of chlorinated water and rectal and bladder cancer. It is projected that by the year 2015 the combined death rate from bladder, rectal and pancreatic cancer will exceed the lung cancer death rates due to carcinogens in water and food."
Dr. Robert Morris
Medical College of Wisconsin
New Scientist 06/12/86

"While levels of these carcinogens in drinking water are low, it is precisely these low levels that carcino-geneticists believe responsible for the majority of human cancers in the U.S."
U.S. Council On Environmental Quality

"Scientists found there was a higher incidence of cancer of the esophagus, rectum, breast, and larynx and of Hodgkins Disease among those drinking chlorinated surface waters."

"Volatile organics can evaporate from water in a shower or bath."

"Conservative calculations indicate that inhalation exposures can be as significant as exposure from drinking the water, that is, one can be exposed to just as much by inhalation during a shower as by drinking 2 liters of water a day."

"People who shower frequently could be exposed through ingestion, inhalation and/or dermal absorption."
IS YOUR WATER SAFE TO DRINK?
Consumer Reports Books

"Taking long hot showers is a health risk, according to research presented last week in Anaheim, California, at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. Showers – and to a lesser extent baths – lead to a greater exposure to toxic chemicals contain din water supplies than does drinking the water. The chemicals evaporate out of the water and are inhaled. They can also spread through the house and be inhaled by others. House holders can receive 6 to 100 times more of the chemical by breathing the air around showers and bath than they would by drinking the water."
NEW SCIENTIST , 18 September 1996
Ian Anderson

"Studies indicate the suspect chemicals can also be inhaled and absorbed through the skin during showering and bathing."

"Ironically, even the Chlorine widely used to disinfect water produces Carcinogenic traces."

"Though 7 out of 10 American drink chlorinated water, its safety over the long term is uncertain."

"Drinking chlorinated water may as much as double the risk of the bladder cancer, which strikes 40,000 people a year."
U.S. NEWS WORLD REPORT
July 29, 1991
Is Your Water Safe – The Dangerous State of Your Water