Chloramine in Our Drinking Water: By Amanda Mitchell January 30, 2014
Chloramine is extremely corrosive. Lawsuits <http://www.ocregister.com/articles/water-340682-leaks-copper.html> against counties are starting to be filed and it will be interesting to see if the towns will be liable for the real (not potential) harm they are causing. The speeding up the corrosion of the pipes will increase water contamination down the line from the plant. Some cities are seeing an increase in copper and lead in their drinking water. The DC water crisis of high lead concentrations is believed to be caused by chloramine <http://www.epipe.be/fileUpload/pdf/20040615_Environmentalscienceandtechnology.pdf> . It is also said that we are going to use the ‘less harmful’ monochloramine, but what is not said is the different types of chloramine can easily be converted from one to another. This is according to Canada’s own study <http://www.chloramine.org/articles_pdf/Assessment_Report_Inorganic_Chloramine.pdf> . That means the very harmful trichloramine and dichloramine can be unintentionally in our drinking water as well. For our family, we have a hard time using our local pool because of the effects of the ‘chlorine’. However, when I was doing the research into this matter about chloramine, I have found out that it is not the chlorine that causes the problems, but the chloramine in the pool <http://www.wescorhvac.com/Chloramine%20Basics.pdf> . It is said that when the chloramine levels build up to .3-.5 ppm people can start to complain of irritation <http://chlorinefilter.net/swimming-pool-chlorine-filtration/how-to-remove-chloramines-in-swimming-pools> . The ‘chlorine’ smell is actually chloramine according <http://www.in.gov/isdh/files/Indoor_Pools_Irritants.pdf> to the Dept of Health of the State of Indiana and many other organizations. There have been pool closures, because of chloramine and because of chloramine risks <http://blog.munley.com/2013/02/abington-heights-swimming-pool-closed-chloramine-risk.php> . A conclusion <http://bangordailynews.com/2009/06/24/news/bangor/chloramine-at-pool-led-to-illnesses/> given by the Dept of Health in Maine was that chloramine was at fault for making many people sick at one pool. It is said <http://www.waterandhealth.org/newsletter/cleaning_air.html> that public pools using chloraminated water have an uphill battle keeping the pool safe when using water from a facility that disinfects with chloramine. Some states <http://www.aahealth.org/programs/env-hlth/pools/indoor-air-quality-and-public-pools-and-spas> actually have a .2 ppm set up as the maximum limit for chloramines in pools because it can cause health issues. The EPA <http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/disinfectants.cfm> , however, has the standard of 4 ppm for drinking (and cooking and bathing) water and still says it most likely will not cause problems. Chloramine is not as effective as chlorine in disinfecting. A pools chloramine level is directly linked to how effective it is: The higher the chloramine level the less effective <http://www.phila.gov/Health/pdfs/PA_Pool_Recs.pdf> because there is less free chlorine. Actually, there have been cases that even the EPA set standards for chloramine were not enough to kill off pathogens <http://abcnews.go.com/Health/protecting-community-pool-health-hazards/story?id=16621921> and amoebas and it resulted in harm. In Louisiana <http://www.nbcnews.com/health/step-fight-against-amoeba-louisiana-water-systems-told-8C11371332> , a boy was killed by an amoeba and the lack of effectiveness of chloramine was said to be the blame by the Dept of Health and Hospitals. They recommended a even higher chloramine level in the water than what the EPA recommended. Plus, in one study <http://www.vce.org/ChloramineScience/MassachusettsDisinfectantStudy.pdf> looking into cancer from chlorine and chloramine a surprising result appeared. Those in communities with water treated by chloramine had a greater chance of dying from influenza and pneumonia. Some suggest this has to do with the lack of effectiveness of killing viruses. Maybe not conclusive by itself, but it should cause hesitation for many people. Please look through the pictures of people’s reactions off of chloramine (here <http://www.chloramine.org/index.htm> are some to start), watch some of the short testimonies <http://www.vce.org/chloraminevideos.html> and consider the information given. You may even be interested in the further studies that show the toxic affects on the CCOC website <http://www.chloramine.org/chloraminefacts.htm> . I understand that our drinking water is rarely within the recommended limits, but chloramine <http://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/0359.pdf> does not fix our problem. Chloramine itself is a hazardous chemical with known byproducts that are toxic (Iodoacetic Acid <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/09/040915111128.htm> , Hydrazine and Nitrosamines, higher Nitrates...). It doesn't come close to disinfecting water like chlorine. It is leaving our town open to lawsuits and fines. It could potentially ruin our ecosystem. Chloramine is very hard to remove from the water. And regardless of our ability to remove this chemical, we will have to jump through hoops to try and find safe water in our town unless we have our own individual rain-catch. If this chemical is toxic to marine life, to dialysis patients, it corrodes faster, and it has been well-established to cause harm at lower levels than needed to disinfect our water, why are we going to use this? Please, help stop this train wreck before it has time to cause any harm. Call your local Council members Sincerely, Here are some other things to think about:
Received January 24, 2014 - Published January 30, 2014
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