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Trihalomethanes
AKA - Chlorine By-products
Note: Unlike Fluoride, which enters the body only through ingestion, Chlorine and Chlorination by-products, aka, Trihalomethanes (THM's) enter the body by ingestion, and through skin absorption, and respiration during baths and showers making accumulative levels extremely difficult to measure.
Re: Government of Canada
Health Canada has established a guideline for THMs of 0.1 milligrams per litre. The cancer risk at this level over a lifetime is considered extremely low. The guidelines for THMs and other chlorination by-products are currently under review by a task group whose work is coordinated by Health Canada.
Re: Other Credible Studies
. 2004 Mar;15(2):179-86. doi: 10.1097/01.ede.0000112209.47765.d9.
Trihalomethanes in public water supplies and risk of stillbirth
Linda Dodds 1, Will King, Alexander C Allen, B Anthony Armson, Deshayne B Fell, Carl Nimrod
Affiliations
PMID: 15127910 DOI: 10.1097/01.ede.0000112209.47765.d9
Abstract
Background: The chlorine used to disinfect public drinking water supplies reacts with naturally occurring organic matter to form a number of chemical byproducts. Recent studies have implicated exposure to chlorination byproducts in drinking water, trihalomethanes (THMs), in particular, with intrauterine death.
Methods: We conducted a population-based case-control study in Nova Scotia and Eastern Ontario, Canada, to examine the effect of exposure to THMs on stillbirth risk. Cases were women who had a stillborn infant, and controls were a random sample of women with live births. Subjects were interviewed, and women with a public water source provided a residential water sample. Risks were examined according to residential THM level in tap water and to a total exposure metric incorporating tap water ingestion, showering, and bathing.
Results: We enrolled 112 stillbirth cases and 398 live birth controls. Women with a residential total THM level of 80 or more microg/L had twice the risk of a stillbirth compared with women with no exposure to THMs (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.1-4.4). The highest quintile of total THM exposure using the total exposure metric was associated with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.4 (95% CI = 1.2-4.6) compared with women not exposed to THMs. Similar results were seen for specific THM compounds. A monotonic dose-response relationship was not seen.
Conclusions: Our results provide evidence for an increased risk of stillbirth associated with exposure to chlorination byproducts through ingestion and showering and bathing, although there was not a clear dose-response relationship.
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