(Excerpt from Health Magazine article written by Richard Seah)
If you are among those who do not feel a need filter your tap water for drinking, here is a suggestion that might seem outrageous- filter your shower!
Don’t be too quick to dismiss this as ‘extremist” advice coming from a “health fanatic”. It comes from scientists at the American Chemical; Society (ACS), who inform that people absorb more toxic chemicals by showering- and, to a lesser extend by taking baths- than by drinking unfiltered tap water.
How much more?
Here’s the shocker. AN ACS report states:” Hose 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.”
The chemical in this case is chlorine. When water is heated and when it forms fine droplets, the chlorine evaporates easily into the air, forming a toxic gas called Chloroform. It can spread through the house and be inhaled by the entire family. This happens most often in the shower. But if you own an indoor fountain or an indoor waterfall, you have another major source of indoor pollution as well.
Don’t believe?
Visit an enclosed area that has a major water feature, such as Ngee Ann City which has a big waterfall fountain at Basement Two. Stand in Basement One directly above it. You will find the smell of chloroform quite overwhelming! Alternatively, visit the Health Promotion Board website, http://www.hpb.gov.sg/ and do a search for ‘chloroform’. You will be led to an article titled Indoor Air Quality which discusses “indoor smog consisting of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)”.
An accompanying table states that major VOCs include chloroform from chlorinated water. What are the effects of chlorine and chloroform? Well, different people react differently. I have a friend whose daughter is particularly sensitive and every time she showered, she developed sever skin rashes. For more than two years, my friend took his daughter to various doctors and skin specialist but they could not even diagnose the problem, let alone solve it.
Finally, he installed a shower filter and the problem subsided. Doctors could not treat the rashes because most of them to now acknowledge the harm of low-level exposure to chlorine/chloroform, even though it is well known that high doses are toxic enough to kill instantly.
For those of us who are less sensitive, we might develop symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, tiredness, depression, irritability and so on. The trouble is, these are vague and general symptoms that could also be due to many other factors ranging from junk foods to job stress.
Few of us would blame the water we drink and fewer will suspect the shower. The entire list of harmful effects from chloroform, however, makes scary reading. Long term exposure has been associated with damage to liver, kidneys and nervous system. There is also scientific evidence linking tap water (containing chloroform and other chemicals ) with cancers of the large intestine, rectum and bladder.
Several good reference articles can be found on the website of the US Environment Protection Agency, such as this article at www.epa.gov/ggb/atw/hithef/chlorofo.html.
World-class water but not good for fish and chickens But wait! Didn’t we read in the newspapers recently that Singapore’s tap water is “world class”? How can world-class tap water be harmful?
Actually, there is no contradiction. Even world-class tap water contains tiny amounts of highly toxic substances such as chlorine, fluoride and lead. World-class tap water merely balances the harm cased by these chemicals, with other possible dangers such as the threat of water borne disease like cholera and typhoid. The Public Utilities Board’s website gives details of the amounts of various toxic chemicals (but not for lead) founding our tap water. They are well within the limits set by the WHO. That’s what makes our water world-class.
Interestingly, PUB’s website also contains this piece of advice: hobbyist who manage their aquarium system at home may need to take extra precaution if they want to use fresh drinking water in their aquariums. This is because some types of fish may be sensitive to chlorine present in the drinking water.
Chickens, too, are sensitive to chlorinated water. Dr Joseph Price, in his 1969 book, Coronaries Cholesterol, cited studies which he gave chlorinated water to chickens and 95 per cent developed astheroclerosis, or hardening/blockages of the arteries. Again don’t believe? Visit any chicken farm in Chua Chu Kang. They all de-chlorinate the water for their chickens.
Dr Price, was unfortunately, ahead of his time and his research findings were largely ignored by the scientific and medical community. Chlorination of drinking water was first experimented with in 1850, and introduced on a large scale in the early 1900s. yet the harmful effects of chlorinated water were not acknowledged until the 1970s, when scientific studies began to link chlorination with increased rates of kidney, bladder and other cancers. Some countries stopped chlorination- and paid a hefty price for it.
Peru is an often cited example. In 1991, Peru suffered a major cholera outbreak that spread through much of South America. More than one million people fell ill, and over 12 000 died.
Water Treatments Japan, Sweden and several other European countries, however, have replaced chlorination with purification by ozone treatment, even though this method is more costly and considered less effective. Japan, in fact, takes such serious stand against chlorine that it even bans paper that has been chlorine-bleached.
Besides chlorine, another cause for concern is fluoride. This is another highly toxic substance added in tiny amounts to drinking water and many brands of toothpaste because it is believed to help fight tooth decay. However, there is concerned tat fluoridated water can raise the incidence of certain cancers, kidney diseases, birth defects (Down’s Syndrome) and other disorders.
Fluorides also produce a dental defect known as mottled ([patchy/discoloured) enamel, except that the pro-fluoridation lobby considers this acceptable. Japan, China and almost all of Western Europe have topped or banned fluoridation. Singapore has not. And the surprise is this- almost all the countries that stopped fluoridation reported declines, rather than increases, in the rate of tooth decay.
Finally, there is lead. It is so toxic that there is no ‘safe level”. Yet lead is almost impossible to avoid id tape water because lead is widely used in the manufactures of taps! Which home filtering system? SO if you are concerned about chlorine, fluoride, lead and other harmful chemicals, you should seriously consider a water purification system- for drinking, for your shower and, if you can afford it, for your entire home. Many companies sells water filters, with prices ranging from tens to thousands of dollars.
Low cost filters are unlikely to be very effective. Some of them merely remove dirt particles, leaving the chemicals untouched. On the other hand, expensive filters may not offer good value for money. Some companies make excessive fantastic health claims that are hard to verify.
There is also controversy over very pure water, such as that produced through distillation or reverse osmosis. Equally controversial are treatment systems that modify water, such as alkaline water systems. While some health advocates advice that only such water are suitable for drinking, others warn that they can be weakening and harmful in the long term. Do your research thoroughly before buying a high cost filtration system. Don’t just listen to the sales person. To remove chlorine and other chemicals, a mid priced carbon filter is adequate. A solid –core carbon filter where the water passes through the carbon will be more effective than using carbon granules, where the water merely flows over the carbon.
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Here are more reasons why you should filter your shower. If you are keen to filter your drinking water and your shower from all these harmful chemicals to protect yourself and your family, pls email Angel at verityy@yahoo.com
