Chlorine and our health

Have you ever wondered how much chlorine is in tap water? This chemical substance has been used as a disinfectant in drinking water and swimming pools for over 100 years. Chlorine destroys bacteria and helps prevents waterborne diseases. However, it's also harmful to your health. This highly toxic compound can lead to stomach discomfort, anemia, eczema, asthma, birth defects, and miscarriages.

The Risks of Chlorination

The process of adding chlorine to tap water is known as chlorination. People who drink tap water containing this substance are more likely to develop allergies, weakened immunity, infertility, vomiting, and irritation of the eyes, nose, and esophagus. Recent studies indicate a strong link between chlorinated water and colon cancer.

Researchers have also found that pregnant women drinking chlorinated water had a higher risk of miscarriage. Chlorinated tap water increases the production of free radicals in the body, damages your immune system and causes kidney damage. These side effects are the direct result of chlorination. This compound has also been linked to bladder cancer, liver damage, hardening of the arteries, and disorders of the nervous system. It seems that chlorine increases the risk of developing bladder cancer by up to 80 percent.

What Can Be Done?

It's no doubt that chlorine can affect your health on long term. Its side effects are devastating. Fortunately, there are better ways to disinfect water and many developed countries have already invested in much better and healthier water treatment solutions like ultraviolet light or ozone.

In Australia however we still have to use chemical treatment due to very old infrastructure that hasn't been upgraded for many years and therefore it is up to each individual to protect themselves by installing good quality water filter or reverse osmosis system and also shower filter that will remove harmful chlorine dioxide, chloramines and other dangerous chlorine by-products also called THM’s (trihalomethanes) from the water that we not only drink but also use for shower or bath.

Inhaling THM’s especially during warm shower or bath is far more dangerous than ingesting them because all these chemicals enter directly into our bloodstream. Children are most at risk due to usually longer bath times, warmer water and faster absorption.

Installing good shower filter seems in this case absolute necessity as well as having quality water purifier for water you drink.