Water Filtration

Although we’ve devoted a large portion of this blog to drinking water, it’s important to note that showers and baths also expose the body to tap water, along with its pollutants. There are three potentially harmful, volatile ( evaporate easily ) pollutants in tap water: chlorine, volatile organic chemicals (VOCS) and radon gas. Hot water creates more evaporation of these pollutants, especially when the water flows in a spray. Once these pollutants evaporate, you can be exposed to them by inhalation in addition to skin contact.

Frequest skin contact with chlorine can cause roughness, excessive dryness, and sometimes rashes, but few studies have been done on the long-term health effects of inhaling chlorine. However, it is estimated that more chlorine is absorbed through the skin during showers and bathing than by drinking chlorinated water. There’s some evidence that drinking chlorinated water may have adverse impacts on health, so it’s probably a good idea to reduce your exposure to chlorine from skin cancer and inhalation.

However, the main health concern with volatile pollutants is inhaling VOCs or radon gas. To reduce chlorine, VOCs, or radon in bath water would require a whole-house water filtration system. Fortunately, there are many inexpensive shower and bath filters that can reduce chlorine, VOCs, and radon. Almost all of the shower filters on the market contain a small canister of either granular carbon or redox media ( often referred to by the brand name KDF ), but rarely both. Carbon removes VOCs, radon, and most but not all chlorine and reduces any pathogen growth in the filter. A few shower filters contain both carbon and redox media, providing the greatest reduction of all harmful volatiles. As of this writing, the company that makes the most cost-effective shower filter with both carbon and redox media is Crystal Quest.

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