Because Chlorine is a poisonous gas,
  even while it does kill the bacteria in our tap water...

It attacks your lungs as the hot shower action vaporizes
  the chlorine in the water...

It attacks your skin and hair as the hot water opens your pores
  to the chlorine, leaving your hair brittle and your skin   itchy and flaky.

Chlorine gets absorbed into your body
and acts as a pollutant.

Doesn't it make sense to filter shower and bath water?
  Remember, your skin is your largest organ!

"Taking long hot showers is a health risk, according to research presented last week in Anaheim California, at a meeting of the American Chemical Society--and to a lesser extent baths--lead to a greater exposure to toxic chemicals contained in water supplies than does drinking the water. The chemicals evaporate out of the water and are inhaled. They can also spread through the house and be inhaled by others. House holders can receive 6 to 100 times more of the chemical by breathing the air around showers and bath than they would by drinking the water"

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, Dr. Lance Wallace

"Showering is suspected as the primary cause of elevated levels of chloroform in nearly every home because of the chlorine in the water."

Chlorine, # 17 on the Periodic Table of Elements, is by itself a yellow-green poisonous gas. It is an inorganic element that cannot exist by itself in nature but needs to bond to another element, the most common being sodium, hence, sodium-chloride, or salt.

In fact, commercial chlorine is produced by sending an electrical charge through a salt water solution, disrupting the bond between chlorine and sodium. The free chlorine is then captured and used for numerous household and industrial applications.

About 180 years ago, scientists, while researching the prevention of typhoid in the water supply, discovered that chlorine, bonding to organic substances, such as bacteria, killed it and rendered the water potable. Because of the corrosive effect chlorine had on organic matter, it was used as a horrendously effective weapon during World War One.  By nature, the gas, which is heavier than air, stayed close to the ground and destroyed the soldier's lungs.

Today, chlorine is still used as the primary method for disinfecting municipal water supplies, swimming pools, and whitening laundry.

Chlorine's attraction to, and corrosion of organic material doesn't end with the bacteria in the water. Chlorine also attacks your hair, skin, and lungs, as they are organic as well. Chlorine can leave your hair dry and brittle and make your skin flaky and itchy. It can also trigger negative reactions in children, the elderly, and people with chlorine-sensitivity.

Chlorine in shower and bath water is readily absorbed by our skin and inhaled from the steam and spray.  In a quick ten-minute shower, we can absorb up to 600% more contaminants than in the drinking water for the day.  And being bombarded by this toxin on a daily regular basis compounds the damage.  Studies have shown that for health reasons it is best to remove chlorine from drinking water.   Why not do the same with our shower and bath water?

The following is an excerpt from the best documented information on the subject of chlorinated water in the shower. This was published in the Australian Magazine, Nature & Health. Vol. 10. No. 4., Issue Summer 1989.  Article published by: Whedon Young Productions Pty. Ltd. 372 Eastern Valley Way, Chatswood, New South Wales 2067, Australia From "One Hundred Years Of Water Chlorination", Pages 44-49, by John F. Ashton, Chief Chemist Australian Food Research Laboratories and by Dr. Ronald S. Laura, Professor in Education, University of Newcastle and Chairman, Sports Medicine and Health Education Committee, Hunter Academy of Sport, New South Wales. 

There is another side to the chlorine-water story.  When we return from a gym workout or a jogging session or a game of squash, not only are we thirsty but we usually shower or bathe.  We have been taught that cleanliness and health go together, and indeed they do, when chemical-free water is used.  When chlorinated water is used, however, bathing may be much less healthy than we ever supposed.

Gasses are as a rule less soluble in hot water, and when water is heated or boiled, dissolved gasses are released.  Boiling water is as we noted earlier a way in which the free chlorine content in water is greatly reduced, the chlorine escaping into the air.  When we have a hot shower or run a bath we can sometimes smell the chlorine released as it escapes from the hot water.  In a confined shower recess, especially one with poor ventilation, the chlorine escapes from the water as we continue the hot shower and steadily increases in concentration in the air we breathe.  The olfactory threshold for chlorine is about 3.5 PPM (parts per million) so when we can smell chlorine the concentration is already above this level.  The lethal concentration for ten-minute exposure is about 600 PPM and we suggest that regularly taking hot showers with chlorinated water could pose a health risk. 

Chlorine causes pulmonary edema, and it would seem likely that regular exposure to chlorine gas even at low levels such as in normal showering may reduce the oxygen transfer capacity of the lungs.  This could be a critical factor for athletes and for others prone to heart failure.

Another aspect to be considered is our skin.  Our skin is an important protective barrier for our bodies.  When we shower with chlorinated water we are essentially exposing our skin to a relatively large volume of a dilute chlorine solution.  Some of this chlorine reacts with the oils in the skin to form chlorinated compounds and it is these compounds which may then be absorbed by the body.  It seems very likely, considering the strong oxidizing power of chlorine, that regular exposure to chlorinated water serves also to promote the aging process of the skin, not unlike extended exposure to sunlight.  Moreover, chlorine may actually enhance the aging effects of ultraviolet radiation by reinforcing the process of cell deterioration.

Another skin factor to be considered with the destruction by chlorine of the natural bacteria balance on our skin.  Our skin has an ecology, all of its own, which needs to be preserved in order to maintain healthy skin and its associated beauty. 

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