Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Posts: 8187 Location: Fingerlakes - NY usa
Chlorine / Bleach
Introduction:
There are now mandatory 3 basin sinks for dish washing in food service establishments. The first stages of washing involve scraping, and rinsing, the first basin is used to wash with detergent, the second basin is to rinse the detergent, the third basin is for sanitizing. The sanitizer most often uses a dilution of sodium-hypochlorite (or bleach). In the sanitizing basin, many may notice that a slime or sludge accumulates along the walls of this final basin just before drying. It's surprisingly most often worse at this stage than the previous ones. If you've noticed this, then you've seen how fat reacts when exposed to bleach.
Does this chemical reaction take place in or on our bodies?
In Epidemiology Franz H. Rampen from The Netherlands, stated that the worldwide pollution of rivers and oceans and the chlorination of swimming pool water has led to an increase in melanoma. (May 1992; 3(3): 263-5). Melanoma is one of the fastest growing cancers.
We're told that Chlorine is added to our water supplies to kill dangerous bacteria, viruses, and microbes, that it's more important than the fact that it's estimated to be the cause of ~10% of cancers.
Fat isn't the only substance that has a chemical reaction with bleach:
Chlorine also reacts to organic matter such as decaying leaves to produce THMS or TriHaloMethanes (includes chloroform), and ammonia (which can be found in urine) to form chloramine which if breathed can cause severe respiratory distress.
What is Chlorine?
Quote:
Chlorine \Chlo"rine\, n. [Gr. ? pale green, greenish yellow. So
named from its color. See {Yellow}.] (Chem.)
One of the elementary substances, commonly isolated as a
greenish yellow gas, two and one half times as heavy as air,
of an intensely disagreeable suffocating odor, and
exceedingly poisonous. It is abundant in nature, the most
important compound being common salt (Sodium chloride). It is
powerful oxidizing, bleaching, and disinfecting agent. Symbol
Cl. Atomic weight, 35.4.
[1913 Webster]
{Chlorine family}, the elements fluorine, chlorine, bromine,
and iodine, called the {halogens}, and classed together
from their common peculiarities.
[1913 Webster]
You can find traces of Chlorine in body fat, breast milk, and semen.
How effective is water Chlorination?
We're not protected from some of the deadliest threats from our water supply. Cryptosporidium is a toxic parasite, and is highly chlorine resistant. Sand filters do not adequately remove this protozoan.
Is Chlorine or Bleach necessary, or are there alternatives?
Ozonation is being used in some cities and is a very effective disinfectant. Ozone breaks down quickly which makes it not suitable for use in a large water distribution system. Some allege that Ozone has the potential to cause it's own chemical reactions and by-products, while we know a lot about chlorine thanks to over 100 years of it's use. It seems like if Ozone was a threat in any way, it would have been revealed in a study before being unleashed on the public in remote cities.
Researchers at Virginia Tech have discovered that the use of anti-bacterial soaps may be directly exposing people to significant quantities of chloroform, which is classified by the environmental protection agency as a probable human carcinogen. This two-minute video clip examines the issue. Research showed that when the chemical triclosan, present in many anti-bacterial soaps, reacts with chlorine in tap water, chloroform is produced. Triclosan is found in everything from cosmetics to lotions to acne treatments. Researchers discovered that the chloroform produced when the antimicrobial soap containing triclosan mixes with chlorinated water could be absorbed through your skin or inhaled.
