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 chlorinating our drinking water in 1904, the epidemic of heart trouble, cancer and other disease began.
Chlorine as we all know is a toxic chemical. It is used in water treatment to reduce and kill forms of biological agents, such as bacteria and viruses found in water systems. Chlorine is harmful to you not even when you drink it but also can harmful to your body when it is absorbed into your skin and inhaled into your lungs when you get shower.Normally when we return from a gym workout or a jogging session or a game of badminton, we not only feel thirsty but we usually shower or bath. We have been taught that cleanliness and health go together, and indeed they do, when chemical-free water is used.
However when chlorinated water is used, bathing may be much less healthy that we ever supposed. Gasses are as a rule less soluble in hot water, and when water is heated or the free chlorine content in water is greatly reduced, the chorine escaping into the air. When we have a hot shower or run a bath we can sometimes smell the chlorine released as it escapes from the hot water. In a confined shower recess, however, especially one with poor ventilation, the chlorine escapes from the water as we continue the hot shower and steadily increases in concentration in the air we breathe.
The olfactory threshold for chlorine is about 3.5 PPM (parts per million) so when we can smell chlorine the concentration is already above this level. The lethal concentration for ten-minute exposure is about 600 PPM and that means regularly taking hot showers with chlorinated water could pose a health risk. Moreover 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.
Besides chlorine causes pulmonary edema, and it would seem likely that regular exposure to chlorine gas even at low levels such as in normal showering may reduce the oxygen transfer capacity of the lungs. This could be a critical factor for athletes and for others prone to heart failure. Another aspect to be considered is our skin. Our skin is an important protective barrier for our bodies. When we shower with chlorinated water we are essentially exposing our skin to a relatively large volume of a dilute chlorine solution. Some of this chlorine reacts with the oils in the skin to form chlorinated compounds and it is these compounds which may then be absorbed by the body. It seems very likely, considering strong oxidizing power off chlorine that regular exposure to chlorinated water serves also to promote the aging process of the skin, not unlike extended exposure to sunlight. Moreover, chlorine may actually enhance the aging effects of ultraviolet radiation by reinforcing the process of cell deterioration
It has been estimated that the "shower steam" in your bathroom can contain up to 100 times the amount of chlorine than the water, because chlorine evaporates out of water at a relatively low temperature. If you bath or shower in unfiltered tap water you are inhaling and absorbing chlorine into your body which finally can cause disease. Even at low levels of exposure in your shower and bath water, chlorine can overtime cause a multitude of symptoms and conditions including respiratory difficulties, corrosion of the teeth, inflammation of the mucous membranes, and increased susceptibility to emphysema, pneumonia, tuberculosis and even cancer.From the previous study showed that water filters is the effective methods to remove chlorine from your home shower especially with the use of carbon and ceramic filters.
Chlorine as we all know is a toxic chemical. It is used in water treatment to reduce and kill forms of biological agents, such as bacteria and viruses found in water systems. Chlorine is harmful to you not even when you drink it but also can harmful to your body when it is absorbed into your skin and inhaled into your lungs when you get shower.Normally when we return from a gym workout or a jogging session or a game of badminton, we not only feel thirsty but we usually shower or bath. We have been taught that cleanliness and health go together, and indeed they do, when chemical-free water is used.
However when chlorinated water is used, bathing may be much less healthy that we ever supposed. Gasses are as a rule less soluble in hot water, and when water is heated or the free chlorine content in water is greatly reduced, the chorine escaping into the air. When we have a hot shower or run a bath we can sometimes smell the chlorine released as it escapes from the hot water. In a confined shower recess, however, especially one with poor ventilation, the chlorine escapes from the water as we continue the hot shower and steadily increases in concentration in the air we breathe.
The olfactory threshold for chlorine is about 3.5 PPM (parts per million) so when we can smell chlorine the concentration is already above this level. The lethal concentration for ten-minute exposure is about 600 PPM and that means regularly taking hot showers with chlorinated water could pose a health risk. Moreover 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.
Besides chlorine causes pulmonary edema, and it would seem likely that regular exposure to chlorine gas even at low levels such as in normal showering may reduce the oxygen transfer capacity of the lungs. This could be a critical factor for athletes and for others prone to heart failure. Another aspect to be considered is our skin. Our skin is an important protective barrier for our bodies. When we shower with chlorinated water we are essentially exposing our skin to a relatively large volume of a dilute chlorine solution. Some of this chlorine reacts with the oils in the skin to form chlorinated compounds and it is these compounds which may then be absorbed by the body. It seems very likely, considering strong oxidizing power off chlorine that regular exposure to chlorinated water serves also to promote the aging process of the skin, not unlike extended exposure to sunlight. Moreover, chlorine may actually enhance the aging effects of ultraviolet radiation by reinforcing the process of cell deterioration
It has been estimated that the "shower steam" in your bathroom can contain up to 100 times the amount of chlorine than the water, because chlorine evaporates out of water at a relatively low temperature. If you bath or shower in unfiltered tap water you are inhaling and absorbing chlorine into your body which finally can cause disease. Even at low levels of exposure in your shower and bath water, chlorine can overtime cause a multitude of symptoms and conditions including respiratory difficulties, corrosion of the teeth, inflammation of the mucous membranes, and increased susceptibility to emphysema, pneumonia, tuberculosis and even cancer.From the previous study showed that water filters is the effective methods to remove chlorine from your home shower especially with the use of carbon and ceramic filters.
A very knowledgable posting.. I remember while undergo my degree, my lecturer did mention that excessive of chlorine in water may turn our black hair into green hair... By eliminating chlorine from the bathing experience, a shower filter can reduce fading of color-treated hair, making dyes last longer and decreasing the need for expensive visits to the hair salon.
ReplyDeleteIt is a good information.From above post, it can said that we need to install water filter in our home to reduce the harmful effect of chlorine to our health.But,for my opinion we need to start using other alternative treatment to replace chlorination of water in water treatment plant like ozonation and uv process of water treatment to reduce the harmful effect of chlorine to human health.
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