Showering and Constipation - Chronic Chlorine Exposure


Most of us are familiar with water filters for the water we drink, but few of us have thought about the water we pour on our body each day and how it can lead to constipation. Chronic exposure to chlorine occurs every time that you take a shower. A warm shower opens up the pores and allows fat soluble chemicals (including chlorine and its by-products) to absorb into the bodies fat tissue. So how does this lead to constipation & chronic health problems?


Chlorinated Water and Constipation

Chronic exposure to chlorine is a problem for constipation because chlorine is a disinfectant. It has successfully eliminated a variety of illnesses that stem from bacteria, virus, fungi, etc… but it also “disinfects” the healthy bacteria in your intestinal tract – the very bacteria that we rely upon to provide the fuel that keeps our colon cells healthy and functioning to avoid constipation. Chronic exposure during showering (the steam inhaled during showering can contain nearly 20x the chlorine in drinking water in addition to the chlorine that is absorbed through the skin) is a major source of chlorine and can contribute to chronic constipation. But it is the by-products of chlorine that hold even more disastrous consequences for overall health:


Chlorine By-Products: Problems

  • When chlorine comes in contact with the organic material it is meant to kill, it produces a chemical form called organochlorides (also known as trihalomethanes). Organochlorides are among the strongest carcinogens in the world and include the well known carcinogen DDT.
  • One example of THM’s toxicity combined with chlorine occurred in Los Angeles. Water that traveled hundreds of miles from the Humboldt Aqueduct to Los Angles caused incidences of throat cancer in the city that were several times beyond the national average. When health officials realized what was going on, they switched the disinfecting agent from chlorine to ozone.
  • THM’s are particularly insidious because they are not water soluble – they will only leave water if they come in contact with fat tissue (i.e. our bodies). Keep this mind when swimming in a pool.

    • What can you do to avoid constipation & chronic THM exposure?

    For constipation, taking a probiotic supplement is a way to counteract the chlorine that kills the beneficial bacteria in your stomach and also serves as a general constipation remedy. For the problem of THMs, it is best to get a carbon filter that has an additive like KDF or bone charcoal to both filter out impurities and kill bacteria that get stuck during the filtering process. You can also read more about using a water filter to treat constipation in the article “Can a Water Filter relieve constipation?”