Did You Forget Your Shower?

By: Al Sears, MD

Did you know that water utilities have found 315 pollutants in tap water?₁ Most of my patients are already drinking filtered or bottled water. But most haven’t thought about what happens when they shower.

For many of these pollutants, there are no federal guidelines. For example, in Philadelphia, officials found 56 drugs and chemicals in treated water. It included pain meds, statins, antibiotics, and medications for mental illness and heart problems.₂

There is no reliable system in place to remove these pollutants.

Not only that, chlorine is added to water to kill bacteria. That’s a concern because chlorine breaks apart and recombines with pharmaceuticals and chemicals from things like lotions, shampoos, and makeup that wash down the drain.

When chlorine and these ingredients combine, it can be worse. Because it turns into things like chloroform.

Chloroform used to be used as anesthesia. No one uses it anymore because of the danger. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health considers chloroform a carcinogen. It causes liver, kidney, and thyroid tumors. One study links chloroform found in water to bladder and rectal cancer. They limit worker’s exposure to 2 ppm per 60 minutes.₃

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