The well known carcinogen chlorine found in swimming pools is also in your drinking water and some of the foods you eat

From Dr Mercola

Toxic Byproducts Created by Adding Chlorine to Water, Food

Most people know there’s chlorine in a swimming pool because you can usually smell it, but this very well-known carcinogen is also in your drinking water and some of the foods you eat.

In the U.S., chlorine is used as a method of disinfecting drinking water, but new research shows this process creates toxic byproducts, according to Futurity.

While chlorine has been used worldwide to save people’s lives from diseases such as typhoid and cholera, questions are being raised about the amount of chlorine that is being used to disinfect drinking water, according to the report.

Phenols, chemical compounds that occur naturally in the environment and are abundant in personal care products and pharmaceuticals, are commonly found in drinking water and when those phenols mix with chlorine, the process creates a large number of byproducts.

Alternative methods that can be used to disinfect drinking water include UV treatment, the use of ozone and simple filtration.

Highly toxic disinfection byproducts (DBPs) form from reactions between pool disinfectants like chlorine and organic matter, including hair, skin, sweat, dirt and … urine. Don’t wrinkle your nose in disgust too fast — 1 in 5 Americans admit they have peed in a pool and, among Olympic swimmers, one former U.S. National team member said nearly 100% of competitive swimmers pee in the pool regularly.

It’s not the urine that is the problem since urine is virtually sterile when it leaves your body, so it doesn’t pose the risk of causing illness the way fecal matter in a pool does. It’s what happens when urine mixes with pool chemicals, including chlorine, that is causing concern.

Studies show that urination in a chlorinated pool creates cyanogen chloride (CNCl), which is classified as a chemical warfare agent, and trichloramine (NCl3), which have been linked to cancer and lung damage.

Chlorine is lurking in some places you’d never suspect, including those cute little cocktail or “baby” carrots you buy at the supermarket.

https://blogs.mercola.com/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2020/02/10/toxic-byproducts-created-by-adding-chlorine-to-water-food.aspx