Chlorination - Disease-causing disinfectant in your Water
We obviously need to have confidence in the purity of the water supply for our homes – to expect that it contains no more than a generally accepted level of toxins and microbes, which can otherwise be harmful to humans, plants and animals. Two thirds of all drinking municipal water processing plants in the U.S. use chlorination for their disinfection stage, which although an extremely effective method of disinfection, can have detrimental effects on our health. It also interacts with organic matter in rivers and water reservoirs. Safer alternatives to chlorination are being pursued – e.g. electrolysis producing sodium ferrate, chlorine dioxide, bromine
What's the problem with chlorinated water?
Chlorine's disinfection byproducts (DBPs) are a bigger problem than chlorine itself
The greatest harm comes from the disinfection byproducts (DBPs) created when chlorine combines with organic material in the water. DBPs, such as trihalomethanes (thms) and haloacetic acids (haas), are thousands of times more toxic than chlorine. In fact, the U.S .Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets the goal limit for some of them at zero, a requirement impossible to enforce, which means you always have some in your municipal water supply.
Chlorine enters the body via diet, skin or breathing. Food contains small and necessary amounts of chlorine, however, excessive amounts can enter body via chlorinated drinking /shower water, and pool and spa water cleaned using chlorine; especially detrimental, warm shower water opens skin pores, and chlorine gas released by warm water is breathed into lungs.
Studies have shown DBPs may wreak even more havoc when they’re absorbed through your skin. E.g. one study published in the Journal of Environmental Sciences in 2008 found that swimming in a chlorinated pool presented an unacceptable cancer risk.
You can easily absorb as many DBP toxins in one shower as you would by drinking tap water for a week, so short showers are advised
What harm does chlorine and its DBPs cause?
Excess chlorine alters body functions
- Excess chlorine replaces essential iodine in the body with deleterious consequences. Chlorine and iodine are both halogens and Body functions require only trace amounts of chlorine and iodine.
Iodine – The Universal Medicine
- Depletes body’s oxygen presence. Chlorine uses up oxygen in water by oxidizing toxins;
- Chlorine has negative effects health. Hardens arteries, destroys proteins in the body, irritates skin and sinus conditions, and aggravates asthma, allergies, and respiratory problems.
Excessive chlorine in the body is strongly correlated to higher risk of cancer, heart disease and other health problems.
- Human studies suggest that lifetime consumption of chlorine-treated water can more than double the risk of bladder and rectal cancers in certain individuals;
- DBPs have been linked to reproductive problems in both animals and humans;
Informative article on health effects of DBPs by Dr. Mercola
Some comments from professionals who have studied water chlorination:
“We are quite convinced, based on our study, that there is an association between cancer and chlorinated water”
– Medical College of Wisconsin Research Team
“Cancer risk among people drinking chlorinated water is 93% higher than among those whose water does not contain chlorine.
– U.S. Council Of Environmental Quality
“Putting chlorine in the water supplies is like starting a time bomb. Cancer, heart trouble, premature senility; both mental and physical, are conditions attributable to chlorine treated water supplies. It is making us grow old before our time by producing symptoms of aging, such as hardening of the arteries.”
– Dr. Herbert Schwarts Biological Chemist
“Nothing can negate the incontrovertible fact, the basic cause of atherosclerosis and resulting entities, such as heart attacks and stroke, is chlorine.”
– Joseph Price, M.D. Coronaries, Cholesterol, Chlorine
For information on how to obtain good water without chlorine or its toxic by-products:
