Chlorine in Your Tap Water and in your Diet Cola

June 10, 2005

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Chlorine In Your Tap Water and In Your Diet Cola

Would you drink a cup of pesticides? What about a cup of chemical water? All

your aquarium fish will die within a matter of minutes if you add tap water to

your fish tank without also adding a de-chlorinator to remove the chlorine.

Doesn’t that tell you something about the danger of drinking chlorine? Chlorine

in tap water results in cancer and many other diseases, according to researchers

worldwide. So if chlorine in tap water is a suspected carcinogen, is it safe in

diet colas?

The manufacturers of chlorine-containing sucralose say the chlorine in their

sweetener will pass harmlessly out of your body. What if it doesn’t? How do you

know your body won’t digest it? Everyone is individual. Chlorine is a dangerous

carcinogen according to the research on tap water. The FDA has stated the

chlorine in sucralose found in Splenda® is safe, but here is scientific evidence

on chlorine in tap water that may help you decide whether or not to avoid

drinking additional chlorine until the issues are resolved. So, before you crack

open that ring top on your diet cola can, please read the research proving

harmful effects of chlorine in the human body, especially during pregnancy.

According to recent research in Europe, pregnant women in their first trimester

who drink five or more glasses of chlorinated tap water a day may be at a much

higher risk of miscarriage than women who drink non-chlorinated water.

Concerned that chlorine may cause spina bifida and stillbirths, the British

government has ordered an independent study on chlorine-treated drinking water.

Scientists from Imperial College, London University, are interested in this new

research from doctors in Norway, Canada and the United States reporting higher

levels of birth defects in areas where chlorine is used, compared with drinking

water treated by alternative methods.

John Fawell, a leading specialist on water quality and an independent industry

consultant, says: " The people who have done this work in Norway and in the

United States are reputable researchers and the government and water companies

have commissioned their own research from London University. All of Britain's

and the United State’s water companies chlorinate their public water supplies.

The only people who use non-chlorinated water are those with their own water

wells.

A Norwegian study of 141,000 births over a three-year period found a fourteen

percent increased risk of birth defects in areas with chlorinated water.

Scientists have already found an association between chlorine and an increased

risk of bowel, kidney and bladder cancer, but it is the first time that a link

has been verified with higher levels of spina bifida.

Dr. Per Magnus, the research scientist who carried out the Norwegian study,

states: " This is an important finding because we know there are chemicals

released by the action of chlorine on organic particles at treatment works. We

have observed mutations in these chemicals that seem to tie up with mutations

that are found in babies. We were in a unique position in Norway to make these

observations because in some areas our water comes from the mountains and

doesn't require cleaning with chlorine. "

A study by Dr. Niels Skakkebaek of the University of Copenhagen demonstrated

that the average human sperm counts have dropped in Denmark by almost fifty

percent due to the presence of manmade chlorine found within human tissues and

breast milk.

The Norwegian government has ordered more research be done. Concerned families

have begun filtering their tap water. A popular method is to place sachets of

coral sand, dredged from Norwegian fjords, into water before it is consumed,

removing all traces of chlorine in tap water after fifteen minutes.

In Canada at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, researchers found that high

levels of trihalomethanes, a by-product of chlorine in drinking water,

significantly increased the risk of stillbirth.

Bladder cancer has been linked to chlorinated drinking water in an average of

ten out of eleven studies. One of the studies in Ontario, conducted with funding

from Health Canada, found that fourteen to sixteen percent of bladder cancers in

Ontario showed a direct correlation to drinking water containing high levels of

chlorine by-products. Chlorinated water has been linked to colon and rectal

cancers in the studies, but the occurrences were not as common as those for

bladder cancer.

Solutions? Dr. John Marshall, of the Pure Water Association, an American

consumer group campaigning for safer drinking water, states: " It shows we should

be paying more attention to the chemicals we put in our drinking water and

should be looking for other alternatives to chlorination. A number of safe,

non-toxic options exist, such as treating water with ozone gas or ultra violet

light. "

For now, investigate the purest “spring” water sources available in your region

of the country. Keep a water jug close by and constantly full, sipping natural

water all day long. Use it for your coffee or tea, and teach your children the

difference between pure water sources and chemically altered water. Investigate

the safety of the piping in your home, and add a water filter to the house tap

if possible. Place filters on icemakers, and don’t drink from the garden hose.

If you have access to a water well, have it tested for heavy metals, and place a

filter on that tap, if necessary.

Pure water is a human being’s primary survival mechanism. Don’t take the

importance of water lightly. I’d rather sip on a bottle of purified water than a

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