How Toxic Is Your Shower?

Studies have found disinfecting chemicals can be absorbed into your skin and lungs if you don’t filter them out first.

By Leah Zerbe, Rodale.com
You don’t want your bathing experience to be dirty. But between harmful chemicals in many shampoos and soaps and the way they can react with the chlorine in our tap water to create more chemical chaos, business as usual in the bathroom needs to change. One easy way you can do that is by installing a shower water filter. True, water filtration may not have as much cache as carrying a reusable bottle or the searching out an organic cosmetics line. But it’s just as important because we suds up every day (most of us, anyway).

Fortunately, there are retailers out there who want to help you clean up your act. At Natural Products Expo East in Boston, the Aquasana water filter booth was a happening place. (Consumer Reports regularly recommends Aquasana filters.)

THE DETAILS: Earlier this year, the President’s Cancer Panel, along with eating organic and avoiding plastic, recommended installing both drinking water and shower water filters as one of the most important things you can do to protect yourself from developing cancer. That’s because previous studies have found some pretty alarming statistics regarding unfiltered shower water, including the fact that people absorb 100 times more chlorine in a 10-minute shower than they do from drinking a gallon of the same water.

Common chemical in plastics linked to health problems.

“Most people know they should be filtering drinking water, but they don’t always realize if they don’t want to drink unfiltered water, they might not want to shower in it, either,” says Todd Bartee, CEO of Aquasana, a leader in the home water-filtration industry.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Marie W.

10:03PM PST on Nov 28, 2012

Let's question why water is so contaminated.

November 28
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Jeremy K.

9:58PM PST on Nov 28, 2012

Consider a vitamin c shower filter www.vitaminshower.com.au

Angie B.

4:02AM PDT on Oct 25, 2011

I hadn't thought too much about toxins from the water when showering until about 4 years ago. I then bought one of the shower filters from Aquasana. It was very easy to install and I was pleased to know that I was helping my entire family with that one little action. We have well water, but with the industrial estates creeping ever closer to our property, I'm sure there are parasites, chemicals and other toxins that have made their way into our water table. I would recommend the Aquasana filters to others as they are affordable and seem to have a really good reputation for quality based on my research. Thanks for such an informative article. It's always encouraging to find good health tips. If you have more to add, we'd love to have you share some of your insight at AllAboutParasites.com and help others there, too.

October 25
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Natalia V.

8:26AM PDT on Aug 11, 2011

I'm in Canada Ontario. How does the water here compare to the USA?

August 11
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Cassandra L.

9:11AM PDT on Aug 7, 2011

Thank you so much, may this article be read by more people , increasing the aware of how water is affecting our daily life in a huge way.

August 7
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Elaina T.

8:06AM PDT on Jul 26, 2011

Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo & Conditioner doesn't contain sodium laurel sulfite and I love it! It will make your showering experience more healthy!
Today is my birthday! Please sign my petition to get a recycling program in my school system!! :) Thank you!!
(Just copy and paste the link to your browser)
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/recycle-atlanta-pubilicschools/

July 26
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Tony R.

1:52PM PDT on Jul 25, 2011

Perhaps it's different in the USA but in the UK the water is actually safer than bottled water. Tap water is checked in laboratories against 57 parameters which can detect 80-90 different substances tests, whereas mineral waters only has to be tested for only 13 chemicals and bacteria - less than one quarter as many substances as are tested for in tap water. There are also no requirements that mineral water be tested daily or even weekly. (http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/bottle2.html)
Bottled water is a con and an environmental disaster with greenhouse gasses emitted from transport, bottle manufacturing and everything else. Let's not mention chemicals from the plastic bottles leaching into the water eh?
Do a search for Coke-cola and Dasani and see how stupid these corporations think you are.Wake up and smell the roses people!

July 25
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Carole L.

10:34AM PDT on Jul 25, 2011

Thank you, very informative.

Lika S.

2:54AM PDT on Jul 25, 2011

Thank you. This is helpful if you can afford filters, organic shampoos, etc. There are many people just eking by. Many people are homeless around my parts, and unemployment is very high.

So, just out of curiosity, I'm wondering if it's possible to go from the opposite end of those who pollute our waters in the first place, to why we need the extra chlorine in the first place, so we can make our water clean for even our most poor and destitute.

Amanda R.

11:18PM PDT on Jul 24, 2011

Great article, now I know what to look for. Thanks!