Students Of Success

The water that comes out of your kitchen faucet carries with it a steady stream of chemical by-products that are known to cause cancer, heart disease and reproductive harm. Since the turn of the century chlorine has been used to treat the nation’s drinking water, virtually eliminating disease causing bacteria and viruses. When first used in 1908, it was viewed as the perfect treatment, one that kept us free of waterborne illnesses while creating no ill effects on our health. So much more is known about chlorine these days, and the error of our ways is beginning to become apparent with the increase in heart disease and cancer related deaths.

The problem with chlorine is actually in the by-products, called organochlorines, created when it mixes with organic materials, such as leaves, algae or even human skin. There are thousands of different chlorine by-products, and very few of them have been studied for safety or are being tracked in our water reserves. While these by-products don’t cause immediate illness, such as typhoid or dysentery, they have long term effects that are not as easy to study or link to any one health ailment.

There are several classes of by-products, the most studied being trihalomethanes (THMs), which occur when chlorine combines with methane. A common THM found in water is chloroform, a known carcinogen. As a matter of fact, a large number of THMs are known or suspected carcinogens, but they are allowed to remain in our water at minimal levels, even though research has shown those “minimal” levels are capable of causing cancer.

Chlorine and its’ by-products enter the body through ingestion, inhalation and absorption of the skin. It is theorized that 2/3 of the body’s chlorine by-product intake occurs in the shower. When the water is heated up, the by-products become vaporized and are thereby easily inhaled. The hot water also serves to enlarge the skin’s pores and allows for easier absorption through the skin.

Chlorine by-products do not break down quickly and are generally stored within the fatty tissues of the body, where they can alter DNA, suppress immune function and interfere with natural cell growth. The by-products also destroy the intestinal flora (“good” bacteria) that protects the body from pathogens and generate free radicals that can cause cancer.

Evidence of this was displayed in a study conducted in Hartford, Connecticut finding that, “women with breast cancer have 50% to 60% higher levels of organochlorines in their breast tissue than women without breast cancer.”

Chlorine by-products have been attributed to causing several types of cancer including, cancer of the bladder, liver, rectum, and colon. A study at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland concluded that, “people living in areas served by chlorinated water have twice the risk of contracting cancer,” than those who do not.

Free radical damage caused by chlorinated by-products have been linked to heart disease and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). In his book Mega Nutrition, Richard A. Kunin, M.D. explains, “…even in minute quantities sufficient to kill germs, chlorine can undermine the body’s defenses against atherosclerosis. Chlorine in drinking water creates electrically charged molecules called free radicals… that can damage the blood vessels and create the environment for plaque formation.”

A growing number of studies have also linked chlorine and chlorine by-products to reproductive harm. In 1998, the California Department of Health conducted a study that established a link between chlorinated drinking water and miscarriage. They found that pregnant women with high exposures to chlorinated drinking water nearly doubled their risk of miscarriage from a rate of 9.5% to 16%. Other studies have linked chlorinated drinking water to serious birth defects and low birth weight.

In spite of the overwhelming amount of evidence that chlorine is not as safe as once thought, the EPA continues to deny that there is a causative link between chlorinated water and health effects. Opponents of chlorine’s use in treating drinking water suspect that the EPA’s denial stems from the sheer cost that it would have to undertake to implement a safer treatment system.

In 2002, England began using Ozonation to treat the country’s drinking water. The process works by adding the same kind of ozone that is found in the atmosphere to the country’s drinking water supply. Once the ozone has been added, an electric charge is sent through the water, effectively killing all disease causing microbes. Ozonation is actually twice as effective as chlorine at eliminating bacteria and is chemical free, creating no harmful by-products.

While a few cities across the US have begun using Ozonation, most are still relying on chlorine to treat their drinking water. Individual ozone water treatment units can be purchased for your home and are relatively inexpensive. Reverse osmosis, micro filtration and distillation filters are not effective because they do not eliminate the harmful by-products of chlorine.

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LEIGH ERIN CONNEALY, M.D., M.P.H. received a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Texas and her M.D. from the University of Chicago. She did her postgraduate training in family practice at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.

Dr. Connealy began practicing medicine in 1986. More and more of her patients started asking about alternative treatments and this prompted her to learn everything she could about nontoxic protocols. In 1992, she founded the South Coast Medical Center for New Medicine in Tustin, California, where she serves as Medical Director. Her practice is firmly based in the belief that strictly treating health problems with medications does not find the root cause of the illness. Her goal is to empower and educate individuals and their families through her treatment plans, lectures, newsletters and articles.