A popular disinfection method since the 1970s, the practice of chlorinating water, significantly reduced microbial infections and waterborne diseases, increasing overall life expectancy in the US. However, a new study has questioned the safety of this method, linking it to an increased risk of several kinds of cancer.
A new analysis of research from across the globe finds that chlorination creates trihalomethane (THM) byproducts which are found in almost all public drinking water systems across the US and EU. Nearly 300 million people in the US have concerning levels of it in their water, as per EWG’s Tap Water Database.
The authors of the study published in Environmental Health Perspectives warn that while the process of disinfecting water with chlorine does a good job of killing harmful mircobes which prevents risk…