Drinking water and disinfection of sewage is another small use of chlorine with major health impacts.
Chlorine combines with the organic matter in water to produce hundreds of organochlorine by-products. Among the best-understood are the carcinogenic trihalomethanes, including chloroform. Chlorinated effluents from sewage plants have caused severe damage to fish and aquatic ecosystems. And a number of studies have linked chlorinated drinking water to bladder cancer, colorectal cancer, birth defects, low birth weight, and changes in fat metabolism that can lead to high blood cholesterol and increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
By relying on chlorine as a disinfectant, we have traded one serious public health problem -- infectious disease -- for a new one: chemically-induced diseases.
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