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Science News
THE WEEKLYNEWS MAGAZINE
OF SCIENCE
Vol. 130 No. 12 Pages 177-192
Chemistry
Janet Raloff reports from Anaheim, Calif. At the American Chemical Society's 192nd national meeting.
Toxic showers and baths
Chloroform and trichloroethylene (TCE) are two highly volatile toxic chemicals that have been identified as contaminants in many municipal drinking water supplies, In fact, points out Julian Andelman of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, the National Academy of Sciences has estimated that 200 to 1000 people may die in the United States each year from cancers cause by ingesting these contaminants in water.
However, the majority health threat posed by these water pollutants is far more likely to be from their inhalation as air pollutants in the home, according to preliminary data from a study Andelman and his colleagues have just reported.
In the past, he says, inhalation exposure to water pollutants has largely been ignored. But his data indicates that hot (43 C) showers can liberate about 50% of the dissolved chloroform and 80% of the dissolved TCE into the air. Emissions both from baths, he finds, are half as high. (One reason, explains Andelman, is that because water droplets dispersed by a shower head have larger surface-to volume ratio than water streaming into a bath, more of the volatiles can vaporize out.)
Although showering can be an intense source of residential exposure to water pollutants, such as those studied here, it is far from the only important source. Andelman notes that only 5 of the 50-to70 gallons of water use daily by the average American goes for showers. Much of the rest is used by dishwashing and laundering.
Though actual doses will depend on many factors- especially the level of water contaminants- the study does offer clues for limiting exposure. Cold showers can reduces the vaporization of dissolved volatile chemicals by 50 %, Andelman says. And short showers help, since each doubling in shower time quadruples the doses from accumulating gases. Finally, to limit the spread of released gases into the rest of the home, he suggests, closing the bathroom door while bathing and exhausting the room air outdoor…………….
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