Chlorination

Years ago I read a book by Dr. Joseph Price entitled “Coronaries Cholesterol Chlorine.” His research indicated that almost all coronary heart disease, including strokes, is caused by chlorinated water. There is much new research that expands the claims to anything from cancer to asthma. However, I am only going to deal with the cardiovascular concerns.

Dr. Price conducted a series of studies using chickens as the subjects. He found that over 95% of the chickens that drank chlorinated water developed atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries in just a few short months. Much more recently a scientist with the EPA performed a similar experiment with pigeons and got the same results.

I know it’s confusing because we’ve been taught that cholesterol is the big culprit, but approximately 80% of the cholesterol in our body is produced in the liver, irrespective of our dietary intake. Research indicates that there is little to no correlation between dietary cholesterol intake and serum blood levels.

Chlorine, of course, is put in water to disinfect it, to kill bacteria and viruses that cause things like Typhoid and Cholera, and it does an OK job of that. The rub is that it damages people too. One noted biochemist says chlorine is so dangerous it should be banned. Another stated that chlorinated water is hazardous, if not deadly, to our health. Remember, chlorine has been used as a chemical weapon, like mustard gas, from WWI to Iraq, as well as in dry cleaning solvents and bleaches.

Autopsies performed on 300 GIs from the Korean War with an average age of 22 years found that 80% of them showed gross evidence of hardening and almost complete blockage of some arteries. Their water had been so heavily chlorinated that some of them had a difficult time drinking it. However, at normal consumption rates it may take 20–30 years for the damage to show up. Of interest is the fact that about 20 years after the commencement of chlorination in America there was a tremendous increase in the heart attack rate. Additionally, the cancer rate is 93% higher for those who consume chlorinated water.

We are not only exposed to chlorine in the water we drink, but we bath and swim in it. It has been found that inhaling the hot steam in a shower can give you up to 100X the exposure of drinking the water. And some experts have warned that if you can smell the chlorine at a pool, don’t go in. Did you ever think that a shower or leisurely swim would be hazardous to your health?

There are two major effects of chlorine on the body. One is the creation of massive amounts of free radicals that generally create inflammation, but specifically in the blood vessels. That in turn starts plaquing which is basically like a benign tumor. The second effect is the chlorine ions that line the blood vessels have a -2 charge, so calcium ions circulating in the blood with a +2 charge are attracted to and bond with the chlorine ions, creating more plaquing and clogging, a dangerous combination.

The answer is to get filtration systems for the household water supply. In addition, Sunwarrior Liquid Light is a potent chelating agent that binds to chlorine and helps the body eliminate it.

Learn more about Dr. Steve Weston