At the beginning of the 1900s chlorine started to be used as a disinfectant in water. Water had to be chlorinated because of waterborne pathogens which would then go and cause deadly diseases which flourished in our pipes and water ways and infected millions of people. But ever since the disinfection of water the most of these diseases have been eliminated in first world countries but is still a big problem in 3rd world problems. (Calomiris, 1998)
Chlorine is the most used disinfectant around the world for water treatment, but with that there still is problems like harmful by-products. In this issues it will be assessed if chlorine is the best option for disinfecting our water and if there is any better options when taking care of our water. …show more content…
Although chlorine destroy pathogenic microorganisms that can then cause diseases within humans, these disinfectants go and create by-products that can also be harmful to humans as well. These by-products are formed through the disinfectants reacting and oxidising organic matter.
The main group of by-products are trihalomethanes (THM), this consists of chloroform, bromoform, bromodichloromethane and dibromochloromethane. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). These THM’s have been linked to being carcinogenic a study taken by Dr Mercola showed that males who smoked and had drank chlorinated water for 40 years had double the risk of bladder cancer than those who didn’t. According to Dr Mercola chlorinated water also increases the risk of many other diseases within the human body just to name a few they are like kidney failure, asthma in young children and even an increase of heart attack. Dr Mercola also suggest that chlorinated water can lead to fertility problems within male and female patients and also lead to an increase chance of a miscarriage. (Mercola, …show more content…
Even though Dr Mercola has produced his own studies about the link between disinfection by-products and cancer, there has not been any actually scientific proof of this link and over that 40 year period the patient could have consumed many other substances that can give an increase in bladder cancer.
According to Western Australia, Department of health there has been consideration of the bond between several cancers and THM’s. After several testing and there being different results, it was decided that there wasn’t enough evidence to go against this proposition so the THM’s where concluded not a health risk. (Environmental Health Directorate, 2009)
It has also been proven that these effects only occur when there are large amounts of THM’s exposed to humans. These THM’s are controlled and the amount of how much they are vary depending on the weather and the water source for example when its colder there are less THM’s compared to when its hotter. When a water source like a well or lakes produces less THM’s rather than a river where there is a lot of organic matter. (Health Canada,
Chlorine is the most used disinfectant around the world for water treatment, but with that there still is problems like harmful by-products. In this issues it will be assessed if chlorine is the best option for disinfecting our water and if there is any better options when taking care of our water. …show more content…
Although chlorine destroy pathogenic microorganisms that can then cause diseases within humans, these disinfectants go and create by-products that can also be harmful to humans as well. These by-products are formed through the disinfectants reacting and oxidising organic matter.
The main group of by-products are trihalomethanes (THM), this consists of chloroform, bromoform, bromodichloromethane and dibromochloromethane. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). These THM’s have been linked to being carcinogenic a study taken by Dr Mercola showed that males who smoked and had drank chlorinated water for 40 years had double the risk of bladder cancer than those who didn’t. According to Dr Mercola chlorinated water also increases the risk of many other diseases within the human body just to name a few they are like kidney failure, asthma in young children and even an increase of heart attack. Dr Mercola also suggest that chlorinated water can lead to fertility problems within male and female patients and also lead to an increase chance of a miscarriage. (Mercola, …show more content…
Even though Dr Mercola has produced his own studies about the link between disinfection by-products and cancer, there has not been any actually scientific proof of this link and over that 40 year period the patient could have consumed many other substances that can give an increase in bladder cancer.
According to Western Australia, Department of health there has been consideration of the bond between several cancers and THM’s. After several testing and there being different results, it was decided that there wasn’t enough evidence to go against this proposition so the THM’s where concluded not a health risk. (Environmental Health Directorate, 2009)
It has also been proven that these effects only occur when there are large amounts of THM’s exposed to humans. These THM’s are controlled and the amount of how much they are vary depending on the weather and the water source for example when its colder there are less THM’s compared to when its hotter. When a water source like a well or lakes produces less THM’s rather than a river where there is a lot of organic matter. (Health Canada,