Here's another misleading advertorial from Star Property masquerading as a guide on cancer-free water... I looked up on the article and yes, it exists. However, it actually deals with "Ingestion, Bathing, Showering, and Swimming in Pools". Why is this important? Well, the chlorine level in swimming pools is much higher than that of our water supplies, so naturally you can expect to absorb a much higher amount of chlorine from a swimming pool than you would from drinking from your tap or bathing in tap water. What does the National Cancer Institute say? To put this into perspective, let's look at some stats. In the US, more than 50K men and 16K women are diagnosed with bladder cancer every year. Large number, isn't it? But wait - in the same year, 1.35 million people would be diagnosed with lung cancer and 1.18 million people would die from it. So you are 27x more likely to get lung cancer than bladder cancer. The greatest irony though would be this - "Tobacco smoking is the main known cause of urinary bladder cancer: in most populations, smoking causes over half of bladder cancer cases in men and a sizeable proportion in women. There is a linear relationship between smoking and risk, and quitting smoking reduces the risk." In other words, the main cause for both lung cancer AND bladder cancer is not chlorine but tobacco smoking... So if you are smoking, what's a little chlorine in your water? But if you are really worried about chlorine in the water, there's an easy way to get rid of it. It's the old-fashioned, time-tested method of BOILING THE WATER!
AFAIK, chlorine will evaporate by itself if tap water is left alone for 24 hours or so. Boiling the water just accelerates that.
I just grabbed that Bragg's book about water. They were once sold in pharmacies. The writer wrote about a case where a man died after too much dunking in warm, mineralized water. Any ideas about that?
Huh?? You can die from drinking too much water too quickly, but how can you die from soaking in warm, mineralized water??? :confused;
Oh sorry for the misinformation. It's not soaking. It's drinking. He was also drinking the heavily mineralized water during his hot water baths, and died due to a kidney stone which had punctured his major artery. Also, could the municipal water supply contain those volatile chemicals called thichloroethylene and chloroform as well? If so, frequent hot showers by human beings nowadays had allowed inhalation of these pollutants. It is indicated that hot showers can liberate about 50% of the chloroform and 80% of the trichloroethylene into the air, as said by the book.
That sounds really unlikely... Many people living in areas with hard water drink heavily-mineralized water, and they actually have lower incidences of heart disease. I don't think I've read of anyone dying from kidney stones specifically due to drinking hard water... Plus, you are more likely to commit suicide from the pain of a kidney stone before it grows big enough to puncture any artery! I think those are contaminants of water sources, not something that was introduced into the municipal water supply. That would be like blaming the car when it was the driver who hit you... If the water is contaminated, then I think hot showers are not the only thing you should be worried about!
As a former State-Licensed Water Plant Operator and State-Licensed Water Laboratory Operator, I can tell you that most municipal water contains HUNDREDS of unhealthy chemicals. However, most of these unhealthy chemicals are at absurdly low levels, and many are actually found in nature as well as from man-made sources. Chlorine may be bad for us, but a more dangerous chemical additive in many water plants is Fluorine, which is ostensibly is added to protect teeth. However, in the United States, most areas contain plenty of natural fluorine for dental needs, and the utility of the extra fluorine in drinking water is questionable. A number of studies I've read conclude that there is a possible link between Fluoride and many health issues. Chlorine and Fluorine are closely-related, but Chlorine is far less chemically-active than Fluorine. Since Chlorine has been used in municipal water supplies for slightly over 100 years. Any effect of Chlorine use could be easily discovered statistically, and I don't believe any substantiated links to health problems and Chlorine have been found. On the other hand, Fluorine has only been in use since 1945, and has been controversial since the beginning. JohnBoyTheGreat
My first post. I also post on the XS forum as Ao1 in the storage section. (I have a morbid fascination with SSD's) I note you seem to be (sadly) missing a dedicated storage section on the forum. Anyway, AFAIK no-one knows what causes cancer. Genetic disposition may make you more vulnerable to cancer but no-one knows the root cause. One theory is that oxygen might play a significant role. Cigarettes are often quoted as causing cancer, which is simply not true. At best there is a weak correlation between smoking and lung cancer, but it is such a weak correlation that it would not, under normal circumstances, warrant further scientific investigation. Interesting as well to hear some of the longer term statistics from Chernobyl. Seems a lot of incorrect assumptions were made about the risk of cancer due to exposure levels from varying types of radiation.
Actually, chlorinated water has NOT been shown to be linked to cause cancer. There may be some studies that have shown some correlation but correlation is not necessarily causation. And... You are right that chlorination doesn't kill everything. But it kills enough dangerous organisms to make it worthwhile. Also, chlorinating the water ensures that the water supply stays safe even if there's a break in the pipelines between the water treatment plant and your home. Finally, chlorine is easily removed by simply boiling the water at home, or leaving it in a jug for a few days. So even if you are worried about being "chlorinated", the solution is very simple - boil your water before drinking it.
