You wouldn’t knowingly bathe in toxins every morning or set out to harm your lungs and sinuses, irritate your allergies and skin, or willingly increase your risk of cancer. But the fact is, chlorine and its by-products in your shower water are toxins which can damage your health.
Research indicates an increased risk for bladder and rectal cancer from drinking chlorinated water. And even though you’re not drinking water in the shower, you can absorb many times more chlorine in a shower than you do by drinking the same water! Tests show that your body can absorb more chlorine as a result of a 10-minute shower than if you drank eight glasses of the same water.
How can that be? A warm shower opens up your pores, causing your skin to act like a sponge. As a result, you not only inhale the chlorine vapors, you also absorb them through your skin, directly into your bloodstream-at a rate that’s up to six times higher than drinking.
Short term risks include skin, eye or sinus irritation in some people. Long term risks include oxidation (cell and tissue aging), hardened arteries, dry skin, increased risk of cancer, and hardened arteries. In addition, if you suffer from asthma or any other skin or respiratory problem, chlorinated water can make your condition worse:
The good news is that showering in chlorine-treated water is a risk you can erase immediately, through the use of a proper shower filter.