Many assume that home filtration is a solution to drink and shower safely. In fact even commercial filtration systems used by bottled-water providers are insufficient to protect municipalities whom have switched from chlorine to chloramine.
Chloramine is an extremely toxic mixture of chlorine and ammonia. That's right, the two chemicals that any "D" chemistry or biology student knows are simply not to be mixed under any circumstances.
So toxic is the resultant chloramine, that those whom add it to water systems are required to do so wearing full HASMAT gear.
Chlorine was the disinfectant of choice until about the time of "911". Whereas some in the water filtration business have suggested replacement of chlorine with chloramine to be somehow related to a terror-prevention strategy, there appears to be no credible evidence to this effect.
The reason presented is tied to an EPA study suggesting a very low cancer risk from compounds created when organic compounds react to chlorine in a water system.
The EPA requirement to eliminate these could be satisfied by a fairly simple pre-filtration before adding chlorine to a system.
Assuming there is not a more sinister reason, water systems appear to be favoring chloramine as an easy way out. And although chloramine is a very poor disinfectant (compared with chlorine), it is much more persistent. So this saves from the need to add chlorine as the water passes from its source to an ultimate destination at the tap
An especially unfortunate quality of chloramine is that this highly soluble chemical still reacts to organics to create potentially even worse compounds. It also persists through virtually any whole-home or drinking-water filtration systems including those used commercially by bottled water providers.
For those particularly sensitive, it is impossible to bath, wash food, clothing, nor otherwise consume the resultant chloramine contaminated water from the increasing number of systems whom have (mostly quite quietly) switched.
For the rest of us, we can only guess at apparent correlations between increases in childhood asthma and other human health issues that have not yet been connected to chloramine exposure.
Avoid long hot showers or hot baths... especially for small children or those with any pre-existing health conditions.
Those on dialysis are absolutely NOT to be exposed to chloramine contaminated tap water not even if it is filtered.
Avoid drinking filtered or other tap offered at restaurants in areas on water systems using chloramine.
Whereas the World Health Organization recommends that immune compromised users boil chloramine treated tap water due to the poor disinfection of chloramine, heating chloramine actually creates worse toxicity.
Use only bottled natural source water for cooking. Spring water and especially natural mineral water can present other hazards, and front groups like the so-called "Clean Water Action Committee" correctly state that (with the exception of chloramine hazards) tap water standards are otherwise more strict on lead, arsenic and other trace elements in some of these.
Bottled Water from municipal sources can no longer be considered safe unless you can verify that the bottling plant where yours was filtered is not in an area that has switched to chloramine.
Amazingly, a family targeted money-saving magazine recommended filling "fancy" bottled water attractive to kids with regular tap. Do not even think of doing this?
Pay attention to any of the increasingly reported symptoms misrepresented as a "water allergy" in whatever contact with chloramine in your daily use for both inhalation exposure and ingestion. "
I regret that presently, for those on any of the growing list of chloramine treated systems there is nut much one can easily do to avoid a large set of known and unknown risks.
Please do bookmark and share this site and also be sure to visit the few but excellent other resources that will help you to do the best for yourself and your family.
Be active in your community to ensure that chloramine is not introduced without proper input from its members. There have already been some success stories where the numerous health and environment hazards of chloramine have been prevented by concerned citizens.
Do not allow your pets to consume chloramine treated tap whether filtered or not
| www.chloramine.org | This site has excellent information on actual documented human health effect cases on chloramine exposures. It also includes details on other concerns that include lead leaching into drinking water and other home plumbing failures as another unfortunate side effect of chloramine contaminated tap water. |
| www.deepwaterweb.com | This site helps to navigate the sea of misinformation on water quality and other important issues that may very much concern your family's health. |