London, 10/1/2013 - Chlorine is a chemical that is used in many industries, in many household cleaners and is a chemical which is added to municipal water supplies as a sterilising agent that controls bacteria growth in water supplies as water travels from water plants to homes. In the United States Chlorine is amongst the ten highest volume chemicals produced and therefore is found and used in a very large variety of applications, more than 15 million tons of Chlorine is produced in the United States annually (1). Chlorine was the first ever agent to be used as a chemical weapon, where it was deployed in World War I. The effects of chlorine gas were severe. Within seconds of inhaling its vapour it destroyed the victim's respiratory organs, bringing on choking attacks. More recently in Iraq insurgents have been using Chlorine as a weapon of terror. On February 20, 2007, a tanker truck carrying chlorine was fitted with explosives and detonated in Taji. Five people were killed in the blast and over 140 others sought medical treatment for chlorine exposure (2).For some time it has been suspected that Chlorine in swimming pools and added to water supplies are harmful. In the 1970s it was discovered that chlorination of water containing organic compounds could result in the formation of THMs (Trihalomethanes). The discovery arose out of a 1970 US Public Health Services (USPHS) survey into the levels of various organic compounds in potable water supplies. Widespread use of pesticides, herbicides and other petrochemicals had raised concerns regarding the effect of these organic chemicals on potable water supplies and the survey indicated that in many cases, these compounds exceeded the USPHS recommended limit for drinking water (0.2 mg/l in 1970) (USPHS Report, 1970). As a result, the National Organics Reconnaissance Survey was undertaken and revealed that four THMs, chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane and bromoform, occur fairly extensively in chlorinated waters in the USA (Symons et al., 1975) (4).
More recently Dr Z Rona MD MSc has written extensively about how Chlorine can effect skin tissue, having stated, “Numerous scientific studies report that chlorinated tap water is a skin irritant and can be associated with rashes like eczema. Chlorinated water can destroy polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E in the body while generating toxins capable of free radical damage (oxidation). This might explain why supplementation of the diet with essential fatty acids like flax seed oil, evening primrose oil, borage oil and antioxidants like vitamin E, selenium and others helps so many cases of eczema and dry skin.”
A large body of work has been conducted to test the health effects of Chlorine on or skin and hair. Though Chlorine’s use in everyday life has been present in a variety of forms since the late 19th century, experts now agree that exposure to this harmful chemical is detrimental to the health of our skin and hair. Acting upon this important expert advice filtering Chlorine from our water is of utmost importance in any healthy lifestyle. There are a variety of products on the market which help to remove Chlorine, these range from; kitchen tap filters, kitchen counter top filters, a shower filter, filtering shower heads and also whole house filters which filter all water which comes into the home.