How Does Chlorine in Water Affect my Health?
What
is Chlorine?
Chlorine
is a naturally occurring element; symbol Cl, atomic number 17 on the periodic
table. It's a very dangerous toxin that has many uses, from disinfecting to
bleaching. In small quantities, liquid and gas forms can be poisonous. In its
gas form, chlorine is a pale green color and has a smelly odor and makes your
breathing labored. In its solid form, it's more of a yellow green color. It is
abundant in nature in its chloride ion form found in many of the salts that are
in the earth. Many animals, including humans need chlorine. But there is a
limit to what we can physically tolerate.
How
am I Exposed to Chlorine?
Even
taking a long bath or shower increases a person's risk for chlorine exposure
because chlorine can enter the body through skin absorption or through the
eyes, nose, and ears.
Chlorine
has long been used to disinfect our drinking water because it controls the
growth of such unwelcome bacteria as Ecoli and Giardia. You have to be careful
also, to take precautions even when showering ordrinking tap water.
3
Common Exposures to Chorine:
Absorption through skin from
water and from the air
Drinking & Eating
Breathing in the fumes that
chlorine can create
It
should be noted that the dangers of chlorine exposure also exist for people who
do not normally swim, but instead choose to sit by the pool sunbathing or
socializing. In some instances, non‐swimmers have tested positive for high levels of trichloramines.
What all of this means is that people need to be more aware of some of the
seemingly innocent dangers that they are commonly exposed to. Chlorine, by many
schools of thought, has become a dinosaur for swimming pool sanitation. There
are alternative methods that can be used to keep
pools
disinfected, including silver‐copper ion
generators.
What
are Possible Symptoms of Exposure to Toxic Levels of Chlorine?
Research
has shown, however, that long‐term
exposure to chlorine leads to the production of free radicals within the body.
Free radicals are carcinogenic, and cause tremendous damage to our cells.¹
Did
You Know?
The risk of
developing cancer is 93% higher in people who drink or are otherwise exposed to
chlorinated water?² Chlorine is a potential health hazard to both children and
adults, and it is an issue that should be taken quite seriously.
According to a
Belgian study that was released in 2003, certain irritants called
trichloramines are released anytime chlorinated water reacts with organic
materials (such as sweat or urine) from people.³ Trichloramines are believed to
initiate a biological process that effectively destroys the cellular barriers
surrounding the lungs. Children exposed to large amounts of chlorine could
potentially suffer asthmatic attacks. In one research study, rats exposed to
chlorine and chloramines developed tumors in their kidneys and
intestines.Chlorine can irritate severely, even burn, skin exposed directly to
it. It can irritate and burn the eyes and throat as well.
Chlorine,
Cancer, and Heart Disease
"We
are quite convinced, based on this study, that there is an association between
cancer and chlorinated water." ‐ Medical College of
Wisconsin research team
The
addition of chlorine to our drinking water began in the late 1800s and by 1904 was
the standard in water treatment, and for the most part remains so today. We
don’t use chlorine because it’s the safest or even the 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 titled
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 a
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, most large poultry
producers use dechlorinated 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!
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 Trihalomethanes
(chlorination byproducts), or THMs. 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 scientists believe are responsible
for the majority of human cancers in the United States“. The Environmental
Defense Fund
Simply
stated chlorine is a pesticide, as defined by the U.S. EPA, whose 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 whose work is
sponsored by 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!”
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, “women with breast cancer have 50% to 60% higher
levels of organochlorines (chlorination byproducts) in their breast tissue than
women 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 due to the fact that chlorine and most other contaminants vaporize
much faster and at a lower temperature than water. Inhalation
is a 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 children… which
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. Environmental Protection Agency.
Chlorine in
shower water also has a very negative cosmetic effect, robbing our skin and
hair of moisture and elasticity, resulting in
a less vibrant and youthful appearance. Anyone who has ever swam in a
chlorinated pool can relate to the harsh
effects that chlorine has on the skin and hair. What’s surprising is that we commonly find higher levels of chlorine in our tap
water than is recommended safe for swimming pools. Aside
from all the health risks related to chlorine in our water, it is the primary
cause of bad taste and odor indrinking 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 its 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 near 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 in our homes, at the point of use, both from the
water we drink and the water we shower in.
REFERENCES
1. The Hidden Danger of Chlorine in our Bath
Water. http://ezinearticles.com/?The‐Hidden‐Danger‐Of‐Chlorine‐
In‐Our‐Bath‐Water&id=71857.
Andie Klein.
2. Dangers of Chlorine. http://curezone.com/art/read.asp?ID=21&db=3&CO=7.
Jerry Smith. Accessed 29 May
2008.
3. Dangers of Chlorine? http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA361110.
Dr. Andrew Weil.
This information is ©GHC Health and has been
compiled from the following sources:
·
http://www.ghchealth.com/chlorine.html
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