Chlorine and/or chloramines are standard treatment additives in most all U.S. municipal water treatment plants. This is a good thing, isn’t it?
There are good reasons for chlorine purification. Chlorine has been used for over a century in water treatment and because of its use, public water-borne bacterial diseases from most treated municipal water systems have become rare indeed. There is a price, however. And then there are the newer chloramine treatments. This is another thing altogether.
Chlorine itself is a natural element, known primarily to be the ionic element of sodium chloride-the salt of our oceans. It is also a necessary trace mineral, used for various enzymatic and metabolic functions in the body. In heavy doses, however, chlorine can burden the body’s chemical load. Though the body can readily detoxify or utilize chlorine, chlorine breaks down into other harmful chemicals when added to water.
While EPA guidelines only require about.2 parts per million for the municipality to purify water, levels are often increased to handle higher bacteria levels, which can occur during seasonal low water levels-further increasing chlorine levels. Chlorine readily breaks down in sunlight and during transport through pipes. The byproducts of this breakdown are trihalomethanes (THM) and haloacetic acids (TAA5). In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency regulates these two byproducts in municipal drinking water.
Over the past few years most municipalities have reduced total trihalomethane (TTHM) levels to 80 ug/L (equivalent to 80 parts per billion) and 60 ug/L (60 ppb) respectively. Meanwhile, many states have mandated tougher standards, some to the tune of 10 ug/L or 10 parts per billion for municipalities within their jurisdiction. The FDA’s mandated level for TTHMs in bottled water is 100 ug/L.
While we might assume bottled waters would not contain trihalomethanes, the NRDC’s 1997-1999 tests concluded that many bottled waters had substantially higher TTHM levels than the state mandated levels. Many had levels ranging from 20 to 90 ppb of TTHM. While levels below the EPA’s and FDA’s mandates have not been shown to pose a significant health risk, the bioaccumulation effect is uncertain. TTHM’s are metabolized through the liver and liver enzymes, so they will certainly add to the toxic burden on the body.
As for haloacetic acids, there are five known acids that can result during in municipal water system disinfection. These are monochloroacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, monobromoacetic acid, and dibromoacetic acid. Levels of these byproducts are also regulated by the EPA for public water systems at 60 parts per billion. A number of cruel studies on rats have indi-cated the TAA5s are readily metabolized through the liver or through glutathione conjugation. Evidence of bioaccumulation appeared absent in these studies. Human studies have not shown toxicity at lower dosages. Toxicity at higher doses is not well established.
As to whether THMs or TAA5s are more toxic than some of the deadly bacteria the chlorine removes; most of us would probably prefer the chlorine to the bacteria. Many water-borne bacteria are highly and immediately toxic, causing dysentery and even death if untreated. At the end of the day, the residual risk chlorine by-products from standard chlorinated municipal water treatments pose is significantly lower than the risk of bacterial infection and likely even plasticizers from plastic bottles. The latter two present a greater tendency for bioaccumulation and metabolism disruption.
The municipal water additive to be more concerned about is the newest version of chlorine treatment: chloramine. Chloramines like monochloramine are produced by combining chlorine with ammonia. This creates a more hardy molecule, one that does not break down as readily as chlorine does in water. For this reason, most EPA researchers believe that because chloramines last longer, less can be used. They also believe that since they do not break down as readily, there will be less THH and THM content in the water supply. In addition, chloramines treatment affects the odor and taste of water much less than chlorine treatment.
Because chloramines do not break down as readily, they provide more potential accumulation risk and thus may be more toxic. Aquarium fish will typically die in chloramine water. Chloramine stresses the gills of fish. Chloramine content above.3 ppm will kill most fish. Chloramines also react more with certain rubber materials, which can damage hoses and gaskets in hot water and washing machines. Noting its affects upon fish, chloramine is likely toxic to the human body, though this has not been established with certainty. Ammonia is a harsh toxin. It will typically break down into nitrates, which at higher levels has been shown to disrupt hemoglobin’s ability to bind well with oxygen. This can cause brain damage and various other metabolic disorders.
Nitrate levels in drinking water are therefore tightly regulated. Levels over 50 parts per million are considered toxic and therefore not allowed in municipal water supplies and shared wells. Ammonia-based fertilizer, our genius invention to fertilize nitrogen-fixing plants, has backfired on us. Nitrate byproducts now slowly seep through commercially farmed soils down to the once pure deep-water aquifers that supply much of our drinking water. Though toxic levels of nitrate are monitored, lower nitrate levels also have inherent risks. In one study done at the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis (Mattix et al. 2007), regions with higher nitrate levels in drinking water experience significantly higher rates of congenital abdominal wall abnormalities.
For our future health and safety, lobby your local water treatment administrators to eliminate their chloramine system if they have one, and add an ozonation with a standard chlorine supplementation program if needed.
About the Author: Dr. Casey Adams holds a Ph.D. in Natural Health Sciences, a Doctor of Sciences in Integrative Health, a degree in Naturopathy, and is board certified as an Alternative Medical Practitioner and practices at the Wellness and Rehabilitation Center in Watsonville, CA. This article is an edited excerpt from the book, Total Harmonic: The Healing Power of Nature’s Elements, available on Amazon and other book sellers. For more information on this book, see http://www.totalharmonic.com, or contact Casey at cadams@realnaturalhealth.com.
The Spot – December 2
