Health effects from drinking contaminated water

The effects of drinking contaminated water can be immediate as well as long term.  The immediate health effects can include nausea, lung irritation, skin rash, vomiting, dizziness, and in some cases death.  Drinking contaminated water is more likely to cause long term chronic health effects.  Chronic health effects include cancer, liver and kidney damage, disorders of the nervous system, damage to the immune system, and birth defects.  The fact is that the water you drink and bathe in can directly affect your health and well being.  The exposure to contaminated water can be limited with some type of filtering device or disinfection system. Being exposed to Chlorine is not limited to drinking water. There are several other ways of being exposed to chlorine.  Chlorine can be absorbed through the skin while taking a shower or handling cleaning products that contain chlorine.  Another common way to be exposed to chlorine is by breathing the vapors.  People who take hot showers in chlorinated water are most susceptible to chlorine vapors as well as by products of chlorine.  Several contaminants vaporize at high temperatures and are breathed straight into your lungs.

Imagine your body as a whole house water filter.  Your body filters out contaminant like whole house water filters filter out contaminants.  Chlorine in your shower on the other hand is harmful to the human body because it is ingested as vapors and absorbed through the pores in your skin.  Chlorine vaporizes at high temperatures causing the chloroform gases to filter the shower stall and affect the air quality in the rest of the home.  You could drink the same chlorinated all day and not have the harmful effects of 1 ten minute shower in the same chlorinated water.  The reason for this is because the vapors are ingested straight into your bronchial tubes and lungs then into your blood stream.  When you drink chlorinated water you liver and kidneys have some filtering capabilities.  The point is filtered water is good for your health and will improve the overall indoor air quality in your home.  Most people are unaware that 70% of your exposure to chlorine is in the shower.