I was a little disappointed by your recommendation to use so many chlorine products in your column on toilet plumes [April 16]. Chlorine is an extremely toxic chemical and is listed in the 1990 Clean Air Act as a hazardous air pollutant. It’s also on the EPA’s Community Right-to-Know list, and in 1993 the American Public Health Association issued a resolution calling for the gradual phaseout of most organochlorine compounds. Chlorine bleach contains sodium hypochlorite, a chemical precursor to chlorine. Any use of it will create pure chlorine in the environment. In addition to its direct toxic effects on living organisms, chlorine also reacts with organic materials in the environment to create other hazardous and carcinogenic toxins, including chloroform and other trihalomethanes (THMs) and organochlorines, an extremely dangerous class of compounds that cause reproductive, endocrine, and immune system disorders. Chlorine and chlorinated compounds are also a prime cause of atmospheric ozone loss. How about the straight dope on chlorine?
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That won’t be easy. For example, recent studies suggest that by-products in chlorinated water can lead to an increase in certain cancers. Chlorine opponents urge a switch to other water treatments, but the alternatives aren’t necessarily safer. Ozonation, one commonly cited method, can also produce carcinogens in some circumstances.
