Chlorine Facts

The study was published on Sunday in the US journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

The co-director of CREAL, Manolis Kogevinas, said the findings should not put people off swimming.

"The positive health impacts of swimming can be increased by reducing the levels of these chemicals," he said.

"In no case do we want to stop swimming, but to encourage the reduction of chemicals in swimming pools," said Kogevinas, who suggested the problems caused by a reduction in levels of disinfectant could be offset if swimmers showered before taking a dip, wore bathing caps and refrained from urinating.

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Water treated with chlorine also destroys vitamin E stores in the body, leading to mitral valve problems and other heart problems. Many researchers now feel it may have a strong link to the development of our number one killer in the United States, clogging of the arteries. Chlorine has been linked to heart attacks, strokes, premature senility and sexual impotency.

"Numerous scientific studies report that chlorinated tap water is a skin irritant and can be associated with rashes like eczema. Chlorinated water can destroy polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E in the body while generating toxins capable of free radical damage (oxidation). This might explain why supplementation of the diet with essential fatty acids like flax seed oil, evening primrose oil, borage oil and antioxidants like vitamin E, selenium and others helps so many cases of eczema and dry skin.

"Chlorinated water destroys much of the intestinal flora, the friendly bacteria that help in the digestion of food and which protects the body from harmful pathogens. These bacteria are also responsible for the manufacture of several important vitamins like vitamin B12 and vitamin K. It is not uncommon for chronic skin conditions like acne, psoriasis, seborrhea and eczema to clear up or to be significantly improved by switching to unchlorinated drinking water and supplementing the diet with lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidus.

"Chlorinated water contains chemical compounds called trihalomethanes ...also known as organochlorides, do not degrade very well and are generally stored in the fatty tissues of the body (breast, other fatty areas, mother's milk, blood and semen). Organochlorides can cause mutations by altering DNA, suppress immune system function and interfere with the natural controls of cell growth.

"Chlorine has been documented to aggravate asthma, especially in those children who make use of chlorinated swimming pools.

"Anything you can do to filter tap and shower water that eliminates or even minimizes chlorine would certainly be helpful and possibly curative for some immune system problems.” -- Dr Z Rona MD MSc

Chlorine and Showers

"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--and to a lesser extent baths--lead to a greater exposure to toxic chemicals contained in 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 1986 Ian Anderson

Our bodied can absorb 10 to 50 times the level of water borne chemicals than from drinking a glass of the same water, and 600 times the chlorine. The heated shower and water causes the pores of our skin to open. This allows chlorinated vapors and other toxins to be absorbed into our bloodstream at elevated levels. Even more than they would by drinking a glass of water that contains the same contaminants.

"Chlorine is the greatest crippler and killer of modern times. While it prevented epidemics of one disease, ill was creating another. Two decades ago, after the start of chlorinating our drinking water in 1904. The present epidemic of heart trouble, cancer and senility began." Coronary/Cholesterol/Chlorine, Dr. J.M. Price, MD.

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DailyMail: Chlorine in tap water 'nearly doubles the risk of birth defects'
By JO MACFARLANE

Pregnant women living in areas where tap water is heavily disinfected with chlorine nearly double their risk of having children with heart problems, a cleft palate or major brain defects, a new study has found.

Scientists say expectant mothers can expose themselves to the higher risk by drinking the water, taking a bath or shower, or even by standing close to a boiling kettle.

The danger comes from chemical by-products in chlorinated water known as trihalomethanes, or THMs, which can be absorbed through the skin. They can then pass into the womb. 

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ScienceDaily: Drinking Tap Water Disinfected With Chlorine May Harm Fetus, Study Suggests

Drinking water disinfected by chlorine while pregnant may increase the risk of having children with heart problems, cleft palate or major brain defects, according to a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health.This finding, based on an analysis of nearly 400,000 infants in Taiwan, is the first that links by-products of water chlorination to three specific birth defects.

Water chlorination is a widely used and efficient method to disinfect drinking water and reduce the occurrence of waterborne diseases. However, numerous studies have revealed the presence of many chlorination by-products in the water. Recent research suggests that prenatal exposure to these by-products may increase the risk of birth defects.

A research team led by Jouni Jaakkola from the Institute of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Birmingham, UK, gathered data on almost 400,000 infants born in Taiwan. The researchers used statistical analyses to see if drinking tap water containing high, medium or low levels of chlorination by-products increased the risk of 11 common birth defects. To read the complete article click here.

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