Metro Mama

In the Know, for Moms on the Go...

In 1964, only 1 person in 214 contracted Cancer. Today it is 1 in 3 females and 1 in 2 males.- Why do you suppose there was such a drastic increase over these years? Could pollution and chlorine in our water supplies be one of the reasons?

"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

"We are quite convinced, based on this study, that there is an association between cancer and chlorinated water." - Medical College Of Wisconsin research team

"Chlorine is so dangerous, that it should be banned".--biologist/chemist Dr. Herbert Schwartz "Putting chlorine in the water is like starting a time bomb. Cancer, heart trouble, premature senility, both mental and physical, are conditions attributable to chlorine, treated water supplies. It is making us grow old before our time by producing symptoms of aging such as hardening of the arteries. I believe if chlorine were now proposed for the first time to be used in drinking water, it would be banned by the Food and Drug Administration."

One of the most shocking components to all of these studies is that up to 2/3 of our harmful exposure to chlorine is due to inhalation of steam and skin absorption while showering. A warm shower opens up the pores of the skin and allows for accelerated absorption of chlorine and other chemicals in water. The steam we inhale while showering can contain up to 50 times the level of chemicals that tap water contains, due to the fact that chlorine and most other contaminants vaporize much faster and at a lower temperature than water. Inhalation is a much more harmful means of exposure, as the chlorine gas (chloroform) we inhale travels directly into our blood stream.

The inhalation of chlorine is a suspected cause of asthma and bronchitis, especially in children; such cases have increased 300% in the last two decades.

Breast cancer linked to the accumulation of chlorine compounds -affects one in every eight women in North America, A study carried out in Hartford Connecticut, the first of its kind in North America, found, "Women with breast cancer have 50% to 60% higher levels of organochlorines (chlorination byproducts) in their breast tissue than women without breast cancer."

Tap Water May Raise Bladder Cancer Risk -Cristina M. Villanueva, PhD: Research in the International Journal of Cancer found that an increased risk of bladder cancer was associated with a higher consumption of chlorinated tap water. I asked the lead researcher, Cristina M. Villanueva, PhD, what she thought might be going on here. "Our working hypothesis is that disinfectants like chlorine react with organic matter. This reaction produces by-products which may increase the risk of some adverse health outcomes, such as bladder cancer,"