If you do not use a water filter for shower, recent studies at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health may get a shock. Studies show that would get less exposure to chemicals in drinking water contaminated with the use of a shower or wash clothes.
What? There is more pollution in my shower in my drinking water? Contaminate the clothes? This can not be right, right?
With a total area of about 1.8 square meters in adults, the skin gains the largest organ of the body. It’s a lot of area, no doubt. But I’ve always thought that the skin acts as a passive barrier to bacterial and chemical agents. Now it seems that I think hurts. Contaminated drinking water may not be the sole or principal that I can expose to toxic chemicals. In fact, we underestimated the impact of skin absorption of contaminants in municipal water. It appears that saturation of the skin to solvents are very high. Under certain conditions, the skin is not as effective a barrier to penetration than we thought. Wow!
And just when you think you could live with the consequences, new worse. It seems that the main threat caused by these water pollutants is far more likely to be as air pollutants directly into the shower. Hot showers (109 ° F) are particularly bad. Unless you have a water filter attached to the shower, hot water discharge up to 50% of dissolved chloroform and 80% of dissolved Trichloroethylene (TCE) directly into the air you take a shower.
Shower conditions become particularly volatile when chlorine is present in the municipal water system. Chlorine, combined with hot shower, mix easily with other organic substances to form highly volatile, toxic chemicals that are more readily absorbed through the lungs into the bloodstream. Chloroform and TCE are two combinations. And more contaminants to pass through the skin into the body as a whole, the contaminants can affect the skin, color of hair and scalp. You can make your itchy eyes and runny or aggravate sensitive areas of the nose, throat and lungs that makes breathing difficult. In general, it is a good way to start the day!
Visit the EPA’s list of most volatile components as defined common in many municipal water supplies. Chemical composition of the list might surprise.
Obviously, it’s time to put an end to all parts of volatile chemicals produced in every cabin across the country. In the meantime, you can improve things a bit to remember to lower the water temperature of your shower and washing machine, well below 109 ° F. A simple shower filter or, ideally, a system of whole house water filter has to take care of others.