Toxiv Showers & Baths .pdf

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Toxic Showers and Baths - Citizens Concemed About Chloramine (CCAC)

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Toxic Showers and Baths

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'You Get More Toxic Exposure
From TakingA Shower Than From
Drinking The Same Water."

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.... Summary statement from a recent study at a major U.S. University
and as reported in Scienee News, vol. go.

Toxic Showers and
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Diagram adapted from the Weekly Newsmagazrne of Science,
SCIENCENEWS.

ChemistryVOl r3o no. rz
Pages t77-t9z
Toxic showers and baths

In

a new study, researcher Julian Andelman, of the University of
Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, the NationalAcademy of
Sciences has shown that volatile chemicals present in many municipal

drinking water supplies are especially toxic to people when they are
exposed to them when bathing or showering. ". . .the major health

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threat posed by these water pollutants is far more likely to be from
their inhalation as air pollutants in the home, according to preliminary

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data from a studyAndelman and his colleagues have just reported."

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"In the past, he says, inhalation exposure to water pollutants has
largely been ignored." His data indicates that hot showers can liberate
between 50 to 80 percent of the dissolved chemicals into the air.

http://www. chloramine. org/toxicshowersandbaths. htm

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Toxic Showers and Baths - Citizens Concemed About Chloramine (CCAC)

Emissions from hot baths are half as high. "(One reason, explains

Andelman, is that because water droplets dispersed by a shower head
have a larger surface-to volume ratio than water streaming into a bath,
more of the volatiles can vaporize out)."

It is interesting to note that chloramine actually exists in three forms:
monochloramine, dichloramine, and trichloramine. The three forms
constantly and rapidly shift from one form to another. "The different
volatilities of the chloramines result in substantial differences in the
rates of release from water: di- and tri-chloramine are released -g and
3oo times faster than monochloramine, respectively." (See page g of
Chemicals in Drinking Water: Chloramine (pDF, t78

KB),by Scottish

Centrefor Infection and Enuironmental Health, Alternate source:
click here.) These chemicals vaporize easily out of the water that is
heated and aerosolized. All three forms are respiratory irritants, with

trichloramine being the most toxic.
Andelman points out that.. . "Although showering can be an intense
source of residential exposure to water pollutants, . . . it is far from the
only important source. Andelman notes that only about 5 of the 5o to
7o gallons of water used daily by the average American goes

for

showers. Much of the rest is used by dishwashing and laundering. "

"Though actual doses will depend on many factors--especially the level
of water contamination--the study does offer clues for limiting
exposure. Cold showers can reduce the vaporization of dissolved
volatile chemicals by 5o percent, Andelman says. And short showers

help, since each doubling in shower time quadruples the dose from
accumulating gases. Finally, to limit the spread of released gases into
the rest of the home, he suggests closing the bathroom door while

bathing and exhausting the room air outdoors."
Science News, Vol. r3o no. 12, pgs.77Z-192, cited by CCAC in this

report.
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