Is it good to drink chlorinated water? How to reduce risks

The smell of chlorine is typical of swimming pools and also drinking water it comes out of the faucets. Chlorine is used to kill germs and is effective, but it is toxic and irritating.

On contact in a swimming pool, it can cause irritation to the eyes, nose and throat, and itching of the skin.

When drinking chlorinated water, the problem is not so much the chlorine, but the more than 600 byproducts of chlorination. These by-products include trihalomethaneswhich have been shown to be carcinogenic in rodents.

The risks of chlorinated water

A Swedish study has shown that concentrations below 20 mcg per liter do not increase the risk of bladder cancer, but it cannot be ensured that the presence of these carcinogenic compounds does not sometimes exceed this limit. In fact, in Spain, the legal limit is 100 mcg per liter, five times more than that considered safe by the Nordic study.

According to the last document available in the National Information System for Drinking Water (SINAC), from 2018, the average value obtained at the national level was 27.35 mcg/l. Therefore, in tap water drinkers the risk of bladder cancer may be increased.

Another study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health highlights, in one of its conclusions, that some 6,500 annual cases of bladder cancer in Europe can be attributed to trihalomethanes in drinking water. This could represent up to five percent of all cases of this type of cancer in Europe and 11% in Spain.

Pregnant and lactating women, infants, and young children should generally avoid more chlorinated water as much as possible.

How to reduce or eliminate chlorine and trihalomethanes from water

People who are used to non-chlorinated or low-chlorinated tap water tend to notice its presence quickly: they perceive its acrid odor even in minute concentrations.

If you live in a place that has heavily chlorinated water and would like to enjoy chlorine-free drinking water, you can buy a filter system. The simplest is the pitcher with activated carbon filter. filters ion exchange resins to remove limescale (descalers) are also effective. But keep in mind that this method increases the sodium content of the water, which is not recommended for balancing blood pressure. Both filters, activated carbon and resin, can be installed in the shower to avoid skin contact and inhalation of chlorine. Other filtration methods that also remove chlorine and its by-products are reverse osmosis and distillation apparatus (There are models that work with electricity and others that can be put on the fire in gas stoves.) Plants do not like chlorine either. You can leave the water in a bucket for at least an hour so the chlorine can evaporate.