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Sometimes it is overwhelming.  And at times I feel there is little hope.  As Dickens wrote, "it was the best of time, it was the worst of times".  On one hand, we have so much opportunity, light and knowledge and on the other so much corruption, darkness and despair.  Technology has made such amazing strides that there is no justification to be mired in so many of the problems we face.  But we are bogged down with a constipated political system influenced and encumbered with corporate greed who have little regard for doing what is it right.  It amazes me that big business is given free reign to rape and pillage our natural resources leaving behind a wake of toxicity, pollution, oppression, disease and death.  And while these corporate giants and the small men who control them bask in their wealth and influence, they poison and corrupt our children and their own children and grandchildren.  It frustrates me as I discover how intimately entwined elected officials are with so many of the chemical, pharmaceutical and corporate goliaths.

One such issue is the continued wide spread use of chlorine in view of the mountains of scientific research decrying its toxicity.  One of the primary factors that distinguish third world countries from the modern world is sanitation.  Lack of adequate sewage and waste disposal leads to disease and many health and living problems in many impoverished countries today.  We also witness this in the aftermath of disaster, particularly when flooding has been an issue.  The concern for water-bourn disease such as cholera, typhoid fever and dysentery can spread quickly and be deadly.  As cities became modernized with the use of indoor plumbing the spread of disease coming through the faucet was a big concern. Chlorine was discovered to have a deadly effect on germs.  Chlorine was also easy to manufacture.  An electrical current is passed through salt water producing chlorine and caustic soda.  Chlorine gas was despicably used during WWI. When the war was over, the use of chlorine was diverted to poisoning germs in our drinking water. All water supplies throughout the country were chlorinated. "On one hand, chlorination has freed civilization from the constant dangers of waterborne epidemics. On the other hand in the mid--1970's scientists discovered that chlorination could create carcinogens in water." Today 80% of the population drinks chlorinated water.

The National Cancer Institute estimates cancer risks for people who consume chlorinated water to be 93% higher than for people who do not.  The combination of chlorine (when in drinking water) and animal fats results in atherosclerosis, heart attacks, and death.  Chlorine is a respiratory irritant and when mixed with other common household products, it gives off a toxic gas.  There was a higher incidence of cancer of the esophagus, rectum, breast, and larynx and of Hodgkin's Disease among those drinking chlorinated surface waters.  As chlorine is added to kill pathogenic microorganisms, the highly reactive chlorine combines with fatty acids and carbon fragments to form a variety of toxic compounds, which comprise about 30% of the chlorination by--products.

The prestigious scientific journal, SCIENCE NEWS, VOL. 130 reports, "The cause of atherosclerosis and resulting heart attacks and strokes is none other than the ubiquitous chlorine in our drinking water." 

Most of us have grown up with the idea that whiter whites (and brighter colors) mean cleaner clothes. We continue to use chlorine products with abandon to whiten and to disinfect. We write on white paper and bathe in and drink chlorinated water. After all, who wants bacteria- infested water? In our society, chlorine is ubiquitous-and so is its side effects.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found dioxin (a toxic byproduct of chlorine) to be 300,000 times more potent as a carcinogen than DDT and is believed to be the single most carcinogenic chemical known to science.  Thanks to chlorine pollution, Americans ingest a daily amount of dioxin that is already 300 to 600 times greater than the EPA's so-called "safe" dose.  Dioxin has been linked to endometriosis, immune system breakdown, diabetes, neurotoxicity, birth defects, decreased fertility, and reproductive dysfunction in both women and men. Dioxin found in paper milk cartons leaches into the milk you drink.  These cancer-causing chemicals from chlorine found in many household products such as coffee filters, disposable diapers, paper towels, and bathroom tissue are readily absorbed through the skin.

The real issue is not just how toxic chlorine itself is but how the unintended byproducts of chlorine  reacting with organic matter such as leaves and twigs in the water create chemicals such as organochlorines and dioxins which do not easily breakdown but remain and accumulate in the environment  or in your body.

In fact, the long-term residual effects from chlorine are becoming such a health hazard that the American Public Health Association is urging the American paper industry to stop using chlorine. One of the largest uses of chlorine is in the paper industry. The wastewater containing dioxins and other organochlorines are then dumped into streams and waterways.  A chain of events occurs: The water becomes polluted; the fish become contaminated; animals eat the fish and people eat the contaminated animals and fish.  Eating animal flesh is probably the highest source of dioxin.   This can create a very serious health problem; the dioxins and other toxic chemicals, when consumed, accumulate in the fatty tissues. These contaminants are also hormone disrupters because they mimic estrogen. The EPA has observed and documented hormonal imbalance, suppressed immune systems, reproductive infertility and alterations in fetal development of animals. I can't tell you how many people come to my office, particularly women, who have some sort of hormonal problems that can probably be traced to long-term chlorine and plastic exposures. 

~ Dr. Kyle D. Christensen D.C. ~