The Danger of Chlorine in your Pool or Drinking Water

INTRODUCTION -

Whilst researching the Internet, on behalf of CB-Clean, I inadvertently discovered certain facts which seem to point to some quite alarming risks related to the use of chlorine in domestic and swimming pool water.
Obviously CB-Clean have a vested interest as they are actively marketing a chlorine-free system in Costa Blanca. which is based on bromine.
Most certainly the use of bromine is not entirely without some risk. However the risks associated with both are far less than those associated with bathing in (or drinking) water that has not been properly purified.

This article does not only deal with the use of chlorine in swimming pools but also its use for purifying domestic water and it should also indicate that, due to different lifestyles and plumbing systems, we are at far greater risk than in other countries (in particular the UK).

I would hate to be branded as an alarmist or scaremonger but, as far as I am concerned, the facts do seem both alarming and scary. It would also seem that the people who are at the greatest risk are those who are exposed to chlorine vapours continually due to their work including pool cleaners and others who handle chlorine products.

It should also be noted that I am not a chemist and, for this reason, I have linked to various web pages written by those who have greater knowledge.

BOOKMARKS TO THIS ARTICLE -

General facts about Chlorine

Why Chlorine thought to cause Cancer

How is the Chlorine absorbed by the Human Body

Who is at the greatest risk?

How the risk can be avoided or, at least, minimised

Bromine - the alternative to Chlorine

Other alternatives

General facts about Chlorine

Chlorine was first extract from common salt (sodium chlorate) towards the end of the 19th century and has been used extensively since for domestic water sanitation.
We generally take it for granted but a supply of clean water is vital for a healthy life. During the past 100 years the use of chlorine has dramatically improved health standards world-wide and virtually eliminated certain diseases which previously killed millions every year, even in Europe and the USA.

Unfortunately there is a downside. Chlorine gas is poisonous and is the main ingredient of "mustard gas", used during WW1 and now outlawed as a WMD. However, very little gas is likely to be inhaled in an outdoor pool and there are no long-term health issues involved.
Nevertheless, it is thought that exposure to Chlorine compounds, such as Sodium Hypochlorite (used to disinfect pool and drinking water), is a health hazard in the long-term -

The ingestion of chlorine compounds can cause atherosclerosis, resulting in strokes and heart problems.

Within the body chlorine combines with other natural compounds to form THM's(Trihalomethanes). THM's are carcinogens and encourage the formation of free radicals which destroy or damage vital cells and cause cancer.

Breathing even small amounts of chlorine gas can cause asthma and pleurisy, in fact the inhalation of any gas is the quickest route to the bloodstream via the lungs.

An article entitled "Chlorine in the bathwater is linked to cancer" was published in the UK Daily Mail on 26th January 2007 that states that there are risks of THM's being produced when chlorine is added to water.
READ FULL ARTICLE

An article entitled "Environmental Health Issues | Cancer & Chlorine" refers to problems of heart disease in chickens which were given chlorinated drinking water. Apparently 95% of them developed  atherosclerosis within a few months.
[READ FULL ARTICLE]

"Chlorine and Cancer: What Can a Water Filter Do for You?" by Vanessa Lausch explains how chlorine is now known to cause of three deadly types of cancer and advantages of water filters.
[READ FULL ARTICLE]

The "Breast Cancer and Chlorine Fact Sheet" published at www.breastcancerfund.org/ explains how organochlorines (organic compounds combined with chlorine) cause breast cancer.
[READ FULL ARTICLE]

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Why is Chlorine thought to cause Cancer

Chlorine compounds have long been known to be a leading cause of bladder and rectal cancer.
Bladder and rectal cancer occur when malignant cells, created by THMs, infect the inner tissues of the organ. Once they have taken hold in the bladder or rectum, they can isolate themselves in the infected area or they can spread to infect other areas of the body.
 

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How is the Chlorine absorbed by the Human Body

We are unlikely to drink chlorinated because, even after the chlorine has been removed, water in most Costa Blanca areas has a vile taste. This taste is hardly noticeable in tea or coffee and, as the water has been boiled, the chlorine has been removed.
The real problem is when we bathe (in the shower or bath).
The warm water opens up the pores and, because the water is heated, the chlorine is released as a gas. The pores absorb the chlorine and it is transmitted into the bloodstream via the capillaries. At least we only tend to spend minutes bathing every day - but how many hours do we spend immersed in pool water?

Then again that is not the only risk. As previously stated the chlorine is liberated from the water when heated and a certain amount is inhaled and gets into the bloodstream vial the lungs. This may be only a small amount with regards to domestic exposure but is even this worth the risk if it can be avoided easily?
As far as pool cleaners (and others who are obliged to handle the stuff at work) are concerned we are certainly not talking about a minimal risk.

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Who is at the greatest risk

Generally those who are exposed to the greatest risk are children (whose bodies are growing and creating more cells) and the elderly (whose bodies are fighting the natural ageing process). However all adult women should be included, as they have the risk of breast cancer, plus those who are pregnant and breast-feeding. Therefore, hardly anyone is eliminated.

Pool cleaners, and those who handle chlorine, are obviously at the greatest risk of exposure but there are two aspects to consider.
Obviously they are ingesting far more chlorine than for longer periods than the bathers and, consequently, more prone to heart disease, breathing problems and cancer.
Additionally they run the risk of breathing the chlorine gas itself. Sodium Hypochlorite reacts with acids and chlorine gas is released. Pool cleaners regularly transport both ingredients, in sufficient quantity and in close proximity, to cause a serious (or even fatal) accident.
Now the likelihood of a liquid pH- container splitting and mixing with chlorine products is only slight and the driver would probably be able to evacuate the vehicle in good time - but what about small spillages happening continually? Obviously the solution is to take meticulous care in the transport of chlorine and acids. It is vital that they are stored apart and the liquid acid retained in strong containers inside a plastic tub in order to contain any spillage.

A highly-informative article, explaining the chemical properties, health and environmental effects of chlorine, is published at lenntech.com.
READ FULL ARTICLE

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How the risk can be avoided or, at least, minimised

Obviously we cannot revert to drinking untreated spring water due to the much greater risk of picking up all sorts of  "nasties". Nevertheless, simple alterations to the delivery method of tap water can eliminate most or all of the chlorine products
I am not familiar with plumbing systems generally in Europe but, in the UK, most water goes first into a storage tank and there is a mains feed tap at the kitchen sink. The water held in the storage tank looses most, or all, of its chlorine in a few hours and the reason for the mains feed to the kitchen is to eliminate the risk of contamination of the water used for drinking or preparing food.
In most case here, in Costa Blanca, the feed is direct to the whole house thereby bringing pure, unadulterated water to every tap containing whatever amount of chlorine the Water Company chooses to add.

Lots of homes still have water "depositos" left over from the days when the water supply was less than reliable. If not a 500 or 1,000 litre fibreglass tank and feed pump is easily and cheaply installed. This is one solution for the whole house together with a direct feed to the kitchen, a reverse-osmosis filter under the sink and a supplementary tap for drinking water and preparing food.
However a word of warning here. The RO filter provides water which is very pure but is not selective. It removes all of the calcium as well - which is not good for our diet unless we drink a certain amount of bottled water.

Another solution is to fit a series of filters on the incoming main. This is a cheaper solution but not so convenient because the filter cartridges have to be changed on a regular basis.

Another problem, not really associated with our health but more the health of our pipes, water boilers, dishwasher etc. is caused by the calcium hardness of the water. Consequently, the perfect system could be comprised of a holding tank, pump, water-softener and RO filter for the kitchen sink.

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. . . and what about the swimming pool?

If I have managed to hold your interest until we may have reached the point where you may think that I am terribly biased. Nevertheless, I hope that you will bear with me.
If you use an old-fashioned chlorine system or your sanitizer is bromine-based, it would be prudent to consider Correct Water Balance, Regular Shocking, Good Maintenance and Bather Education.
This is because, if these 4 vital aspects of pool care are properly observed, the sanitizer can be kept to a minimum.

Health Authorities, around the world, have regulations regarding the maximum amount of chlorine and bromine which is permitted in swimming pools and this is expressed in ppm (parts per million). The maximum permitted in the Comunidad Valenciana is 4 ppm for bromine and 2.1 ppm for chlorine.
Now the authorities don't make statements like this just for fun but the Costa Blanca permitted levels of sanitizer are quite low. It is sometimes impossible to keep a chlorinated pool healthy at 2.1 ppm. and difficult with only 4 ppm of bromine.
Therefore, in order to avoid the very certain short-term risks to health from bathing in contaminated water, these maximum ppm's sometimes have to be exceeded, especially when the weather is hot and there is heavy bather load and/or abuse.
With a sensible approach to these other aspects of pool care these excesses of sanitizer can be minimised or entirely eliminated.

1. Correct Water Balance:  Without repeating what numerous pool experts (including this website) say, getting the Calcium Hardness and Total Alkalinity right (and keeping them right) are vital because they provide the optimum water quality for the sanitizer to work.
   Furthermore, it is simply not enough just to test the pH as this is more dependant on CH and TA than anything else.
    
2. Regular Shocking:  Chlorine combines with bather waste to produce chloramines and bromine produces bromamines. Neither are good to have in pool water. Chloramines do not sanitise the water and, in addition, they cause odours and irritation. Bromamines actually sanitise as well as bromine and do not smell nor cause irritation. Therefore they can be tolerated to some extent.
   If you use a simple (OTO) test kit the chlorine level shown could be mostly chloramines. This also means that you have little sanitizer. Shocking removes both chloramines and bromamines and improves the performance of subsequent additions of sanitizer.
   N.B. The higher you keep the sanitizer the less problems you will have with chloramines or bromamines because your water is permanently shocked. This is not really an option because, although the sanitizer is quickly killing the bugs, it could be slowly killing the bathers as well.
    
3. Good Maintenance: This includes attention to the plant and machinery (especially the pump and filter sand), annual partial draining (as necessary with chlorine systems) in order to remove any excess of cyamuric acid, attention to leaks and impoverished grouting etc.
    
4. Bather Education - It is the duty and obligation of any pool care-persons (amateur or professional) to educate the bathers by putting up signs or simply explaining the facts. In most cases it is not a question of education because lots of bathers simply do not realise and, as soon as they are informed, they comply because it is all obviously for their benefit.
   Consequently, if everybody showers off BEFORE using the pool, the pool surround & terraces are kept clean, animals not permitted anywhere near the pool, close-proximity plants & trees cut back and the little ones prevented from using the pool as a toilet then the pool care-person is more than half way there.
   Much less sanitizer is required, just sufficient to cope with the bather waste and other unavoidable debris.

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Bromine - the alternative to Chlorine

Bromine is not entirely without risk as it is also known cause cancer and skin complaints.
However, it should also be noted that the resident compound in a bromine pool is Sodium Bromide and this is extracted from seawater. There could actually be a greater risk swimming in the sea because seawater is known to contain lots of bugs. You might ask "How can bugs exist in seawater and not in pool water if both contain Sodium Bromide". The answer is simply that another chemical is added to the pool water to temporarily change the Sodium Bromide into the sanitizer (Hyprobromus Acid) and, after the sanitizer has done its job, it reverts back into Sodium Bromide.

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Other alternatives

There are certain other alternatives available which work in conjunction with, and reduce the ppm of chemical sanitizers and there are certainly a lot more yet to be invented. These include -

Ozone Generators - Ozone (or O3) is a powerful sanitizer but has a very short life (just minutes).

Ionization Systems - with silver and copper electrodes, also only work on the water passing through the ioniser.

Salt Systems - It should be noted that these produce chlorine from the salt, so are not really chlorine-free alternatives. However, the chlorine generated has a short life and recombines back to salt after entering the pool.

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An over-simplified but factual way of looking at it -

Bugs can kill and maim people

Chlorine, Bromine & Ozone (all mentioned here) kill and maim Bugs
 - quickly and effectively!

. . . but they also kill and maim people.

Fortunately much, much less is required to kill a Bug!

CB-Clean provide an expert consultation service covering all aspects cleaning and maintenance, products and services.
If you are interested in protecting the users of your property or swimming pool from the effects of Chlorine, please provide your details below for a consultation.

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