Summary

A recent meta-analysis of 30 studies involving 90,000 participants found that water chlorination levels common in the US and EU likely increase bladder cancer risk by 33% and colorectal cancer risk by 15%.

Chlorine reacts with organic matter to form trihalomethanes (THM), toxic byproducts present in nearly all public water systems.

Although chlorine disinfection has reduced waterborne diseases, these findings pose regulatory challenges.

Alternatives exist but are costly. Experts recommend continued tap water use with effective filtration, such as granulated activated carbon.

  • @CrayonRosary
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    24 days ago

    Water service is local. The federal government doesn’t factor into it. Counties and states can do the subsidising.

    Also, I’m sick of this exhausting doom and gloom. “We can’t do anything, ever, because Trump.”

    • @shalafi
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      14 days ago

      They’re busy dismantling and taking control of the federal government, and doing so at astonishing speed. They’ll drill into state affairs soon enough.