Since chlorine was initially added to water supplies in the Chicago stockyards in 1908 chlorination of drinking water has become almost universal. An estimated 75 percent of drinking water in the U.S. is chlorinated.
While chlorination has helped to reduce the incidence of infectious diseases, a dark side of the element has emerged. Known carcinogens, such as chloroform and other trihalomethanes, are formed when chlorine reacts with organic compounds in the water. Organochlorines, which do not degrade well, accumulate in fatty tissue such as breast tissue, and can be found in body fat, blood, mothers’ milk and semen.
Several studies have implicated chlorinated drinking water with colorectal and bladder cancer. In another, highly chlorinated water resulted in a noticeable shift in the transport of cholesterol from beneficial HDL to harmful LDL.
In July, the American Journal of Public Health published the results of a study of cancer risk over an eight-year period in 28,237 postmenopausal women who reported the source of their drinking water. Those who drank water from municipal surface water sources consumed higher levels of chloroform than women whose drinking water came from municipal ground water sources. Further, the higher intake of chloroform was associated with an increased risk of colon cancer, and of all cancers combined. (87:1168-76)
Writing in Epidemiology Franz H. Rampen et al of the Netherlands, state that the worldwide pollution of rivers and oceans and the chlorination of swimming pool water has led to an increase in melanoma. (May 1992; 3(3): 263-5) Many people may not realize that chlorination does not provide full protection against the deadliest organisms in public water supplies. Crptosporidium, a toxic parasitic protozoan, is highly chlorine resistant and inadequately removed by sand filters.
Alternatives to chlorination are being used in Europe and Middle Eastern countries. One widely used alternative method, ozonation, is a highly effective disinfectant, but has the potential to create other unique and potent chemicals. It also is not designed to kill bacteria in the pipes or the water distribution system.
The World Health Organization has called for limits on the amount of chlorine in drinking water. But until truly safe, effective alternatives to chlorination are identified, we probably have no choice. The discontinuation of chlorination in Peru was said to have caused a cholera epidemic. To be on the safe side, buy bottled water or invest in a reliable water filter. Frank Murray, The Murray Report, Let’s Live.
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