CHLORINE AND YOUR SHOWER
“Sprite Industries, the only true specialists
in shower filters, once again led the field with new shower filter
configurations… Sprite uses a patented filtration media called KDF Chlorgon
that performs well under high water temperature and pH conditions.”
WATER CONDITIONING &
PURIFICATION- March 2001
“Chlorine is used almost universally in the
treatment of public drinking water because of its toxic effect on harmful
bacteria and other waterborne, disease-causing organisms. But there is a
growing body of scientific evidence that shows that chlorine in drinking water
may actually pose greater long-term dangers than those for which it was used to
eliminate. These effects
of chlorine may result from either ingestion or absorption through skin.
Scientific studies have linked chlorine and chlorination by-products to cancer
of the bladder, liver, stomach, rectum, and colon, as well heart disease and
arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), anemia, high blood pressure, and
allergic reactions. There
is also evidence that shows that chlorine can destroy protein in our body and
cause adverse effects on skin and hair. The presence of chlorine in
water may also contribute to the formation of chloramines in the water, which
can cause taste and odor problems. Since chlorine is required by public health
regulations to be present in all public drinking water supplies, it is up to
the individual to remove it at the point-of-use in the home. The best available method of
chlorine removal, for the individual consumer is found in the Shower Master
Shower Filter Unit. The Shower Master Shower Filter Unit is of great value to
those who are concerned about the adverse health effects of exposure to
chlorine due to absorption through the skin or by inhalation. The Shower Master
Shower Filter will provide superior protection from chlorine, when used in
accordance with the Manufacturer’s recommended operating procedures.”
KEMYSTS LABORATORY - Dr.
Riddle Ph.D.
“In June 1988 the US National Cancer
Institute released the results of an intensive 10,000 – person study, which
showed that people who drink chlorinated water for long periods of time have
twice the incidence of bladder cancer as those who don’t drink chlorinated
water. A new American invention, the Shower-Master (by Sprite),
filters out chlorine by-products.”
ON THE WATER FRONT: MAKING
YOUR WATER SAFE TO DRINK
“Conservative calculations indicate that taking a shower exposes you to
the equivalent of consuming an additional two liters of chlorinated water each
day. Inhalation and skin absorption of
chloroform and chlorine by-products is greatest in the shower, where
these gases are vaporized.”
THE WATER YOU DRINK: HOW SAFE
IS IT?
“While the purity of our drinking water is
of primary importance, contaminants and chlorine byproducts also enter our bodies through the
skin via the water in which we bathe. Also, our lungs absorb toxic fumes from the gaseous chlorine
byproducts that are released in a steamy shower. Chlorine in shower water can strip protein from our hair and skin
causing dry, irritated eyes, itchy skin, and dandruff.”
WATER: THE ULTIMATE CURE
“The total inhalation exposure (summation of the three
scenarios; shower, pre- and post-cooking activities and cooking) was found to be comparable with
that for direct ingestion, indicating that inhalation is an important
pathway for THM exposure from drinking water.”
SCI TOTAL
ENVIRON-Jan 31, 2000
“The use of chlorine for water treatment to reduce the
risk of infectious disease may account for a substantial portion of the cancer risk associated with
drinking water.”
ENVIRON HEALTH
PERSPECT- Nov. 1995
“Strong
relationships were identified between the THM breath concentrations collected
after a shower and both the THM water concentration and the THM exposure from a
shower…”
ENVIRON HEALTH
PERSPECT- Feb. 1999
Exposures to chlorination by-products (CBP)
within public water supplies are multi-route in water. Cold water is primarily
used for ingestion while a mixture of cold water and hot water is used for
showering, bathing others, dish washing, etc. These later two activities result
in inhalation and dermal
exposure. The overall THM
exposures calculated using the THM concentration in heated water were 50%
higher than those calculated using the THM concentration present in cold
water.”
RISK ANAL- Feb. 1994
“Especially for volatile organic
micro-pollutants, exposure routes from drinking water other than ingestion must
be taken into account (inhalation
and percutaneous uptake).”
FOOD CHEMISTRY
“Individuals are exposed to volatile
compounds present in tap water by ingestion, inhalation and dermal absorption.”
ENVIRON HEALTH
PERPECT- Jan. 1996
“As a result, entry by inhalation route is as important as entry by
ingestion route when conducting exposure analyses of contamination from
volatile organic compounds such as TCE.”
TOXICAL IND
HEALTH- Mar-April 1996
“Although ingestion is commonly considered to
be the primary source of exposure to chloroform from tap water, inhalation and skin absorption
exposure concentrations were found to be even higher.”
SCI TOTAL
ENVIRON- 11 Jul. 1998
“However, other exposure routes, such as dermal absorption and
inhalation, may be important components of an individual’s total exposure
to drinking water disinfection by-products.” “The results from this study
indicate that household activities such as bathing and showering are important routes for human
exposure to THMs.”
EXOP ANAL ENVIRON EPIDEMIOL-
Jul-Aug. 2000
“Recently, showers have been suspected to be an important source of
indoor exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOC).” “Since estimates of chloroform risk from
domestic water use for the three exposure routes—ingestion, inhalation and dermal—are similar,
all routes must be used to calculate the total risk when making policy
decisions regarding the quality of the municipal water supply.”
RISK ANAL-Dec 1990
“A new statistical analysis indicates that
people who drink chlorinated water run a 21 percent greater risk of bladder cancer and a 38 percent greater risk of
rectal cancer than people who drink water with little or no chlorine.”
“I am quite convinced, based on this study, that there is an association between cancer and
chlorinated water.”
SCIENCE NEWS- 11 July 1992
“People who regularly drink water containing chlorine have
been found to have a higher risk of bladder cancer by some researchers.”
PREVENTION-
Aug. 1994
“It’s time for government and industry to act
on the knowledge that chlorine
is a profound threat to human health” says Coling, “and the evidence has
shown that the time to start is now.”
CHEMICAL WEEK-
21 Dec. 1994
“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 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
“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 Americans 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
“A long hot shower can be dangerous.
The toxic chemicals are
inhaled in high concentrations.”
BOTTOM
LINE- August 15 1987
“On one hand, chlorination
has freed civilization from the constant dangers of waterborne epidemics. On
the other hand in the mid –70s scientists discovered that chlorination could create
carcinogens in water. 80% of the
population drinks chlorinated water. There was a higher incidence of cancer of
the esophagus, rectum, breast and larynx and of Hodgkin’s 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 be
drinking 2 liters of water a day. People who shower frequently could be exposed
through ingestion, inhalation and/or dermal absorption.”
“Skin
absorption of contaminant has been underestimated and ingestion may not
constitute the sole or even primary route of exposure.”
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC
HEALTH, Vol. 74-1984
“Showering
is suspected as the primary cause of elevated levels of chloroform in nearly
every home because of the chlorine in the water.”
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
“A Professor of Water Chemistry at the
University of Pittsburgh claims that exposure to vaporized chemicals in the water supplies through
showering, bathing, and inhalation is 100 times greater than through drinking
water.”
“As chlorine is added to kill pathogenic
microorganisms, the highly reactive chlorine combines with fatty acids and
carbon fragments to form a variety of toxic compounds, which comprise about 30%
of the chlorination by – products.”
“Epidemiological studies suggest a link
between ingestion of toxic chemicals in the water and elevated cancer mortality
risks.”
THE NADER
REPORT – TROUBLED WATERS ON TAP
“The National Academy of Sciences estimate
that 200 to 1000 people die in the United States each year from cancers caused
by ingesting the contaminants in water. The major health threat posed by these pollutants is far
more likely to be from their inhalation as air pollutants. The reason that
emissions are high is that because water droplets dispersed by the shower head
have a larger surface-to-value ratio than water streaming into the bath.”
SCIENCE NEWS, Vol. 130
“The
cause of arteriosclerosis and resulting heart attaches and strokes in none
other than the ubiquitous chlorine in our drinking water.”
CORONARIES / CHOLESTEROL /
CHLORINE
“In the vast majority of cases where
germ-free water is required whether for public supply, or in the swimming pool,
the process of disinfection
will involve the use of chlorine in one form or another.”
CHEMISTRY AND
CONTROL OF MODERN CHLORINATION
“Chlorine gas was despicably used during WW1.
When the war was over, the use of chlorine was diverted to poisoning germs in
our drinking water. The
combination of chlorine (when in drinking water) and animals fats results in
arteriosclerosis, heart attacks, and death.”
WATER CAN
UNDERMINE YOUR HEALTH
“Chlorine is the greatest crippler and killer of modern times.
While it prevented epidemics of one disease, it was creating another. Two
decades ago, after the start of chlorination our drinking water in 1904. The
present epidemic of heart trouble, cancer and senility began.”
SAGINAW
HOSPITAL- Joseph Price, MD
“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
“Drinking
tap water that is chlorinated is hazardous, if not deadly to your health.”
HEALTHY WATER FOR A LONG LIFE
“Known
carcinogens are found in drinking water as a direct consequence of the practice
of chlorination.
A long established public health practice for the disinfection of drinking
water.”
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